Downward Social Comparison

Past research has presented that individuals with high global self-esteem engage in self-enhancing process more than individuals with low global self-esteem (Brown et al., 1988; Seta et al., 1999). Individuals with high self-esteem are likely to engage direct forms of self-enhancing, where the self is directly related to positive characteristics and outcomes of a specific event (Brown et al., 1988; Seta et al., 1999). Conversely, it was also found that individuals with high global self-esteem engage more in self-verifying process compared to their low global self-esteem counterparts (Bernichon et al., 2003). Individuals with high self-esteem are likely to engage in self-verification process because they are less concerned with the emotionally upsetting drawbacks associated with it and seek negative feedback when required to do so (Bernichon et al.,

It’s natural to make self-evaluations. One particular study explored the change in self evaluations after being exposed to “inappropriate social comparisons”

Self-Esteem can be harmful and make people very self centered, but others lack confidence and need a boost of self-esteem. Self-esteem is a very important factor in various reasons that happens in people’s daily life. With no type of thought people don’t think or take self-esteem with importance without realizing that self-esteem is a huge thing that us humans depend for our daily activities. Some shifts that have happened toward self- esteem over the past few decades were the fact that many people don’t really get an effect of having a boost of self-esteem in order for them to reach success. Therefore, self-esteem is not important in the success of individuals but it is important in their well being and psychological health.

Apart from levels of self esteem, another aspect is the degree of change when it comes to external factors, such as failure or success. Unexpected fluctuations in self esteem are not considered beneficial because it suggests that the individual does not have a stable sense of self worth. Studies show that as people go through their adolescent and middle adulthood years, self esteem levels become more constant.

Humans are judgmental creatures. One of our most significant philosophy is “not judging a book by its cover”, which examines our habit to judge. We did not purposely develop this questionable characteristic; we seem to have been with this evolutionary trait. We judge everything as a survival instinct to protect ourselves; the perception we create from our personal opinions determine whether we believe something is friendly or foe. As with everything, we judge ourselves, and we tend to be our biggest critic. We constantly judge ourselves, but why? People have referred to this type of judgement as self-esteem. Self-esteem is measured by how positive we view ourselves: the more positive our perception of our self, the higher our self-esteem and

Finally, the specific attribute of someone we praise contributes to their internal motivation as well. A study performed either praised students for their intelligence or their effort. Children praised for intelligence cared less about learning and had less task persistence and performance. Those who were praised for their effort cared more about learning, and showed more motivation. This experiment showed that praise for intelligence has more negative outcomes than positive (Mueller and Dweck, 1998). Another study tested if both criticism and praise on ones traits contributed to contingent worth. Participants were given one of three types of praise or criticism. Those receiving person-focused praise or criticism were more negative and helpless which created a sense of contingent self-worth and vulnerability (Kamins and Dweck, 1999).

The upward comparison that you used was great! It made a great deal of sense to use this comparison when talking about your friend being the better southern cooker and more organized. According to the lecture, social comparisons help us to learn about ourselves by comparing ourselves to others (Lesson 5 What is the "self" P1 , 2016). It seems as if you found out that you are not as good of a southern cooker or as organized as your friend by comparing yourself to her. The goal to be a good southern wife helped to support your comparison as well. I am glad that you have a wonderful friend like Mel. We all need people who helps, encourage, teaches us new things, and helping us reach higher limits. It seems as Mel is a true friend.

When we want to evaluate something we really only have one tool to use: Comparison. Even with empirical, objective, means of measurement, without context, a measurement would mean nothing. Is your car fast? If you’ve only ever driven a Yugo before, you might say it’s pretty fast, but if you just took a ride in a Bugatti Veyron, you might have a new definition of fast. Social Comparison Theory is the idea that the same way you determine whether your car is fast, is the exact same way you determine your own attributes.

If you fill your head with positive thoughts you start to feel good about yourself. The better your self

Previous research examined the potential relationship between social comparison, envy, and depression. Appel, Crusius, and Gerlach (2015) utilized a sample of about 130 participants that were divided into two experimental groups of depressed and non-depressed to analyze profiles that were on Facebook. The researchers found that high levels of envy, when the social comparison level is high, could result in depressive symptoms. In the case of Facebook, there is a concept called Facebook Envy. Envy that comes out of gathering information about others on Facebook (Chou & Edge, 2012). Tandoc, Ferrucci, and Duffy (2015) report that Facebook envy has some influence on depression. A person that uses Facebook more may experience higher levels of envy

What opposite processes could be used to create the reverse process, that is, a strengthening of the self-concept?

The authors found that self-esteem can be increased via classic conditioning. Consequently, they found that low self-esteem can be raised by applying basic learning principles (Baccus, Baldwin, & Packer, 2004). Their findings support the theory that self-acceptance is influenced by positive feedback from other people. These findings may initiate an effort to research possible methods to increase self-esteem as a means of ridding society of the various social ills that are thought to be caused by low self-esteem. Therefore, future research should also include the effect of the conditioning task on various aspects of social behavior. This in turn, will help determine the amount of influence, if any, that self-esteem has on behavior. The results also suggest that implicit low self-esteem is not permanent and can be modified (Baccus, Baldwin, & Packer, 2004). This provides hope that individuals suffering from implicit low self-esteem can find relief by receiving treatment to increase their self-esteem in an effort to experience a greater sense of well being. This potentially could lead to a method for treating depression.

The experiment starts inside a playroom, participants are boys and girls around 5 years old.

The ‘better-than-average’ (or BTAE) effect states that certain individuals would evaluate themselves more positively than the average person. Within this, there is argument to suggest that there are both positive and negative implications linked to this theory. The concept of ‘self’ plays a large role in discovering whether these factors affect the individual, whereas social comparison is also a great aspect in understanding how the better-than-average effect can include itself into everyday society, therefore creating an unrealistic divide between different groups.

If one has poor self-concept and sees oneself as unworthy then they will present themselves this way, which will result in a negative response from people. If one feels good about oneself, they will present themselves as worthy, which will result in a more positive response from people. The perceptions, beliefs and attitudes that steam from self-concept, will affect one's social surroundings. One will either come out of a situation with a positive or negative concept of these surroundings. Poor communication can cause one to have a poor perception of oneself. One's emotional state, dislikes, likes values and body image are affected by the opinions of others and can render one to have an inferior and insecure self-concept.