What Is Social Comparison?

The Social Comparison theory can be applied to how beauty standards in television have an effect on how children view themselves and the world. The theory describes that individuals make judgments about themselves based on the comparison they view on television. In the theory there are two types of comparisons to be made: upward comparisons and downward comparisons. This analysis will focus on upward comparisons as it is best applied to how beauty standards in television affects the way children view the world. In upward comparisons an individual compares him/herself with others who they feel are better than them. This comparison can only lead to on of two things, the individuals will try to self-enhance themselves the better conform to the

Because of the adverse effects of cyberbullying, anxiety and depression are prominent among social media users. Not only do negative comments and rude acclimations cause anxiety and depression in the people of today's society, but the portrayal of a "perfect life" on social media also tends to cause these harmful effects. Considering that people on social media tend to highlight the positive aspects of their life and obscure the negative, onlookers have the tendency to compare their life to the prominent positive elements. Constant comparison results in the subsequent feeling of being inferior.  Sixty-eight percent of girls in the United States report having a negative experience on a social networking site. Comparison to untrue lives causes anxiety and depression in today's

My focus article from this journal was “Online Social Networking and Mental Health” written by Igor Pantic. The focal point of this article was how social media has changed the way people communicate and searches to find if this has had profound effects on mental health. Many studies have found that social media is directly related to depression, low self- esteem, and many other things that affect mental health.

A recent study published in 2016 by a team of researchers found that in a survey of 1,787 adults, ages 19-32 there was a “strong and significant association between social media use and depression in a nationally representative sample of U.S. young adults” (Lindsey et al.). This is not the first study to confirm the hypothesis that social media use causes depression, but it is the most recent and largest study to date and it confirms the findings of other smaller studies done. Perhaps social media makes lonely people less lonely by allowing them to easily meet new people or rekindle old social bonds. However, a study lead by social psychologist Robert Kraut on depression and internet use found that users who were introverted were more likely to feel depressed and lonely using the internet that extroverted internet users (49-74). Social media has even given way to a new term, FOMO…or the fear of missing out which users can experience as they peruse Facebook. Not only does the internet hardwire us for depression, but its driving content can make us feel more lonely or

Research completed by Gardner, Gabriel, and Hochschild (2002) reveals that when the target for comparison is part is self-construed, it leads the successes of the individual to become a cause for celebration rather than a cost to self-esteem. The current research was based on the theory of self-evaluation in which an individual gains self-esteem when they outperform others and lose self-esteem when they are outperformed. The research from the study shows that we, as humans, are not always greedy and wish to outshine our in-group. Pleasure in successes can be achieved even when we include our friends in our self-views.

In modern society, one of the major determinants of our sense of wellbeing, in my opinion, is comparing ourselves to others. While comparison motivates us to learn good qualities, pursue a brighter future and own a grateful hearts, it also has an adverse effect when we compare our true inner selves to the pictures of perfect life created by others on social media.

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.

Social comparison is technically known as “the process of assessing ourselves in relation to others to form judgments of our own talents, abilities, qualities, and so forth” (Wood, 2016, p.50). This internal process is something that occurs constantly in everyday life, although in most cases, is not done deliberately. The process of social comparison begins when one distinguishes any differences or

Social comparison is how we evaluate how desirable those characteristics are and then see how we measure up to the group and use group as a reference. Not only do we see ourselves as possessing specific characteristics, we also evaluate how desirable those characteristics are. For example, Amish children learns from their interactions with family friends and their churches. We compare ourselves to others in our identity groups. For Example, like websites like "Hot or Not" allows someone to upload a picture of him or herself and allow it to be judged by

Research has been done to identify how SJT can affect self-esteem in individuals of both high and low status groups. Jost et al. (2002) suggests that the process of system justification makes way for implicit ramification on the self-esteem for individuals within the lower social system by stating that “members of low as well as high status groups expressed non conscious favoritism toward members of higher status groups on cognitive affective and behavioral measures” (Jost et al., 2002, p. 598). It can be argued that this is representative of a social hierarchy in which those who are lower may socially compare themselves to those on top. According to Myers (2013), social comparisons can be detrimental to personal satisfaction as we compare ourselves upward toward others. It can be assumed that SJT is a form of social comparison, in which the lower group favors the top, thus causing a decrease in satisfaction. This assumption is further supported by Jost et al. (2002) that favoritism later continues to the social hierarchy, thus causing self-esteem problems for those of lower stature. Jost et al. (2002) postulates that “our thoughts, feelings, and actions seem to reproduce biases in favor of high status groups, often

comparison is not good if one is just trying to gain a sense of superiority or avoiding challenging himself to do better. In order to be at a comfortable level of self-esteem one must be able to uplift himself without the influence of others. Also, one’s reaction to social comparison can vary depending if the person feels inferior or superior to the other person. Ergo, depending on one’s own perception of self-worth is more reliable because it is always consistent.

Social comparison is a tremendously pervasive procedure which impacts how individuals think about themselves, how they feel, what they are inspired to do, and how they carry on. Social comparison consequences thereby span all center of human mental working. This striking omnipresence is coordinated by a comparably striking compexity and multi facetedness of the center comparison process itself. Not only to do social comparison impact perception, motivation and behavior. To date, these diverse impacts on social comparison procedures have been basically considered in relative isolation. Actually, the historical of social comparison research is a history of consecutively switching foci (Buunk & Mussweiler, 2001; Suls & Wheeler, 2000), beginning with a strong focus on motivational impacts and a relative neglect of cognitive underpinnings and closure with a strong focus on cognitive underpinnings and a relative disregard of motivational impacts.

Social comparison theory was formulated by Leon Festinger. It is an important theory because it can help people to learn their individual identity by comparing to others. Two ways people compare themselves. An upward comparison is when compare to someone that is better than you wherein, a downward comparison is when you compare to someone that is worse off than you. (Aronson et al. 2016). Whether you are comparing yourself using upward or a downward social comparison. It can help shape them in who they are or what they may want to become in life. Comparing yourself

Judging one's worth in the world through social comparisons is central not only to human psychological functioning, but also critical to the survival of individual animals in many species (O’Brien) I have caught myself on many occasions making comparisons at the gym. I hate that I do it, but it is natural. I do both though, I compare downward and upward. If I see a girl that is skinny at the gym I am automatically making those upward comparisons thinking that she is better than I am. I also catch myself looking at someone that is bigger than me to make myself feel better about how I look. In contrast to upward comparisons, downward comparison theory (Wills, 1981) predicts that people experiencing negative feelings or cognitions about themselves

Clarissa Silva article in the Huffington Post delves into social media’s impact on self-esteem. As a behavioral scientist, her interest in the matter relates to her field. She also gets the help of other experts Dr. Jennifer Rhodes, Natalia Lusinski, and Dr. Suzana Flores to help with her research. Silva states that “social media is linked to higher levels of loneliness, envy, anxiety, depression, narcissism and decreased social skills" (1). Then outlines her research findings using rhetorical appeals.