Social Comparison Theory free essay sample

Introduction Individuals tend to differentiate significantly in conditions of how they observe and assess their personalities abilities. There are individuals who observe themselves more positively and those more realistically. Research has exhibited that an individual possessing an enhanced view of one’s self-concept through social comparison tends to lead to extremely favorable outcomes. Social Comparison Theory The theory that I had chosen to discuss and research about would happen to be the Social Comparison Theory. In this theory, it simply asserts that the process in which people learn about themselves by comparing themselves to other members of society. In addition, it has been assumed that individuals contain a desire to compare their own opinions and abilities. This can be seen through comparison via physical reality or by through other people. However, through studies it had been concluded that individuals were assumed to in normalcy have a preference of comparing other individuals which were similar to themselves. Furthermore, (Kruglanski Mayseless, 1990) reports that there is a three-level analysis of social comparison. The first level, which is the most universal is a judgmental process meaning that social comparisons as judgments need to be thoroughly processed. The second level, which is less universal documents that social comparison as grouping, allocates a specific type of judgment structure. The third and last level, which the least universal relates to the particular contents of a specified comparison. Moreover, it can be noted that there are three forms of social comparisons: first being that individuals tend to minimize comparisons (Brickman Bullman, 1977). Second form being upward social comparison where an individual is comparing him/herself to another individual better then them, in which motivates them to work harder and perform better in order to reach that particular individuals level. Lastly, third form being downward social comparison where an individual is comparing him/herself to another individual worse off. Threatening one’s self-concept, individuals tend to have a preference to compare him/herself with individuals they recognize as worse off then them. Due to this, increase in subjective well-being tends to occur because downward social comparison seems to enhance self-concept and minimize anxiety (Gibbons, 1986). Event In order to understand social comparison theory better, I am going to bring up an event that relates to it. I was volunteering at the Chicago Rehab Institute a year ago and a patient I was working with had been diagnosed as paraplegia due to an accident. I remember one day, he was mentioning to me that to cope better with his condition, he compared himself to his roommate who was far worse off then he was in the sense his roommate had ALS. This illustrates downward social comparison. Another event, but illustrates upward social comparison occurs with my brother. When he was in high school, he was on the track team and he was running the 400 meters. After he had finished the race at the state competition, he had compared his score to that of the high school state record for the 400 meters. Article In addition, to understand this theory even better, it can be related to an empirical article I had found, which basically discusses about social comparison in everyday life. In the article, the author details a new apparatus for students to record their social comparison methods. This new apparatus is called the Rochester Social Comparison Record. It had been found that 1) the direction of comparison differed with the correlation in conjunction with the target; 2) pre-comparison mood had led to an increase in upward compared to downward comparison; 3) downward comparison had increased subjective well- being, while upward comparison had decreased it; and 4) high self-esteem individuals participated in more social comparisons. Furthermore, the authors had concluded three significant findings. First, related comparison tends to be normal with close friendship, while non-related comparisons tend to be normal with distal friendship. Second finding is that comparison target will be inter-correlated to pre-comparison affect. For example, if a person is experiencing a downward comparison, it is a low-subjective well being while if a person is experiencing an upward comparison, it is a high-subjective well being. Third finding is that downward comparison will greatly make an impact on subjective well being, while upward comparison most likely will be directed to negative affective reactions. The last finding that the authors had discovered is that self-esteem and the target of comparison is highly correlated to each other respectively. Looking at downward comparison, individuals that display low self-esteem when their self-esteem is in jeopardy will associate in a downward spiral. Likewise, with upward comparison, individuals that display a positive self-esteem when their self-esteem has significantly increased, will associate in an upward spiral. Conclusion Recommendations It can be noted from the article, events, and theory that their related and connected in a way. All three indicate that within social comparison, human beings tend to compare themselves with others when they lack the ability to assess their opinions and abilities on their own. Moreover, all three exhibit a relation that there are two types of comparisons within social comparison. First being upward social comparison, where an individual compares him/herself with that of another individual who is better off. Second being downward social comparison, when an individual compares him/herself with that of another individual who is lesser off. Furthermore, from the article I had found limitations are always present in any research. The subjects utilized in the study were predominantly first semester freshman and was a class requirement, so instead of truly reflecting their beliefs for researchers to see, they could have just not been truthful just to pass the class. In addition, more women than men had been in participation throughout the study and this could have had an impact on the overall findings and conclusion to how social comparison is used in everyday life. Lastly, comparisons tend most likely to be understated and so with this, it was taken into account that not every individual had reported every instance of social comparison. Concluding, it can be seen that human beings hold an urge for self-evaluation and that human beings have a desire to measure their opinions and acquire some ideas of how skilled they are. This is why social comparison theory is an integral part of how people go about their lives everyday.