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Social Comparison Theory - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Hyman revealed :pushpin:the assessment of one’s own status is dependent on the group with whom one compares oneself.[6]
  - - - In other words, people can change their opinions when they want to but no matter how motivated individuals may be to improve their ability, there may be other elements that make this impossible[8] (Hypothesis V).
    - - If discrepancies arise between the evaluator and comparison group there is a tendency to reduce the divergence by either attempting to persuade others, or changing their personal views to attain uniformity. However, the importance, relevance and attraction to a comparison group that affects the original motivation for comparison, mediates the pressures towards uniformity (Hypothesis VII).
    - - :pushpin:Those close to the mode will have stronger tendencies to change the positions of others, weaker tendencies to narrow the range of comparison, and even weaker tendencies to change their own opinions (Hypothesis IX).[1]
  - - - Each individual's specific goals will influence how they engage in social comparison.
      - :pushpin: For self-evaluation, people tend to choose a comparison target that is similar to themselves.[14]
        
        Specifically, they are most interested in choosing a target who shares some distinctive characteristic with themselves.
        
        Research suggests that most people believe that choosing a similar target helps ensure the accuracy of the self-evaluation.[16]
        
        However, individuals do not always act as unbiased self-evaluators, and accurate self-evaluations may not be the primary goal of social comparison.
        
        There have been many studies and they have shown that American women tend to be dissatisfied with their looks, they either rate themselves "too plain, old, pimply, fat, hairy, tall" and so much more. Women are much more sensitive than men especially with it having to do with their physical appearance.[17]
        
        Due to media digitally altering women's appearance from the width of their torso or arms to the softness of their complexion creates the ideal that thin and flawless is the only acceptable way to look. This leads to diet culture, excessive exercise, and had lead to many eating disorders. This form of social comparison can cause harm and can affect the development of the way someone sees themselves.[18]
      - They also think that knowing the truth about themselves is salutary.[15]
      - the four self-evaluation motives
        
        self-assessment
        
        self-verification
        
        self-improvement
        
        self-enhancement
    - - :pushpin: They may interpret, distort, or ignore the information gained by social comparison to see themselves more positively and further their self-enhancement goals.
        
        People also seek self enhancement because holding favorable illusions about themselves is gratifying.
      - They will also choose to make upward (comparing themselves to someone better off) or downward (comparing themselves to someone worse off) comparisons, depending on which strategy will further their self-enhancement goals.
      - They may also avoid making comparisons period, or avoid making certain types of comparisons. Specifically, when an individual believes that their ability in a specific area is low, they will avoid making upward social comparisons in that area.
      - :pushpin: Unlike for self-evaluation goals, people engaging in social comparison with the goal of self-enhancement may not seek out a target that is similar to themselves. In fact, if a target's similarity is seen as a threat, due to the target outperforming the individual on some dimension, the individual may downplay the similarity of the target to themselves.
        
        This notion ties closely to the phenomena in psychology introduced also by Leon Festinger himself as it relates to the diminishing of cognitive dissonance.
        
        This dissonance causes an uncomfortableness psychologically which motivates a person to remove the dissonance. The more dissonance there is creates a bigger sense of pressure to remove the dissonance and uncomfortableness caused by it.[19]
        
        One does not want to perceive oneself in a way which would downplay one's original belief upon which one's self-esteem is based and therefore :pushpin:in order to reduce the cognitive dissonance, one is willing to change the cognitive representation of the other person whom one compares oneself to, such that one's own belief about oneself remains intact. This effectively leads to the comparison of apples to oranges or psychological denial.
  - - - Downward social comparison is a defensive tendency that is used as a means of self-evaluation.
        
        When a person looks to another individual or group that they consider to be worse off than themselves in order to feel better about their self or personal situation, they are making a downward social comparison.
        
        :pushpin: Research has suggested that social comparisons with others who are better off or superior, or upward comparisons, can lower self-regard,[20] whereas downward comparisons can elevate self-regard.[21]
        
        Downward comparison theory emphasizes the positive effects of comparisons in increasing one's subjective well-being.[4]
        
        For example, it has been found that breast cancer patients made the majority of comparisons with patients less fortunate than themselves.[22]
        
        Ashby found similar results in his experiment showing, downward comparison in people subjected to distress from a physical illness such as heart disease or cancer. They also see those who recover from the same illness, and the study found that patients tended to be more optimistic about their own recovery.[23]
      - Although social comparison research has suggested that upward comparisons can lower self-regard, Collins indicates that this is not always the case.[24]
        
        Individuals make upward comparisons, whether consciously or subconsciously, when they compare themselves with an individual or comparison group that they perceive as superior or better than themselves in order to improve their views of self or to create a more positive perception of their personal reality.
        
        Upward social comparisons are made to self-evaluate and self-improve in the hopes that self-enhancement will also occur.
        
        In an upward social comparison, people want to believe themselves to be part of the elite or superior, and make comparisons highlighting the similarities between themselves and the comparison group, unlike a downward social comparison, where similarities between individuals or groups are disassociated.[11]
        
        It has also been suggested that upward comparisons may provide an inspiration to improve, and in one study it was found that while breast cancer patients made more downward comparisons, they showed a preference for information about more fortunate others.[25]
        
        Another study indicated that people who were dieting often used upward social comparisons by posting pictures of thinner people on their refrigerators.[24] These pictures served as not only a reminder of an individuals current weight, but also as an inspiration of a goal to be reached.
        
        In simple terms, downward social comparisons are more likely to make us feel better about ourselves, while upward social comparisons are more likely to motivate us to achieve more or reach higher.
    - - Aspinwall and Taylor looked at mood, self-esteem, and threat as moderators that drive individuals to choose to make upward or downward social comparisons.[26]
        
        Downward comparisons in cases where individuals had experienced a threat to their self-esteem produced more favorable self-evaluations.
        
        High self-esteem and social comparison