Social Comparison Theory

From a very young age, we are often compared to people of our age group in various areas. These people could be our siblings, friends, or cousins. It is a universal experience. Their achievements have always been compared to ours and vice versa. This is a fundamental human tendency. We seek validation by constantly assessing where we stand concerning others. Like everything else, comparing oneself to others has its fair share of advantages and disadvantages. While it can give you a sense of clarity on where you stand in a group, it can also foster negative feelings like jealousy and hatred and affect your mental health.

What is Social Comparison Theory?

Social comparison theory explains how individuals have an innate desire to evaluate themselves by comparison with others. It was given by social psychologist Leon Festinger in 1954. According to Festinger, individuals continuously evaluate their opinions and abilities. When they have inadequate information for this evaluation, that is when they will attempt to obtain that information by comparing their opinions and abilities to those of others. These ‘other’ people are usually similar to you in aspects like age, education, profession, etc.

There are 2 types of Comparison done by an individual-

• Upward Comparison: In upward comparison, an individual usually compares themselves to people who they think are superior to them in some aspect. If done healthily, it can help one to learn, grow, and improve themselves for better.
• Downward Comparison: Downward comparison, on the other hand, is when one compares themselves to someone inferior or worse off than them in some area. This type of comparison is rarely beneficial. It is only used to satisfy one’s ego and feel better about themselves.

The Psychological Mechanism Behind Social Comparison

Why do people feel the need to compare themselves to others? How do they think it benefits them? Or does it satisfy their ego needs? There are various questions as to what thought process goes on in a person’s mind when they compare themselves. These psychological mechanisms can be both positive and negative.

Positive Psychological Mechanisms

Positive mechanisms of comparison are employed for the betterment of oneself. It can be for.

• Self-evaluation: As mentioned before, when a person is uncertain about their beliefs, they compare themselves with people with similar potential and achievements. This helps them to evaluate themselves and their actions by analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, rights, and wrongs.
• Self-improvement: Self-improvement can be done through upward comparison. If you compare yourself to someone in a healthy manner, it can provide you the motivation you need to work harder towards your goal. It inspires self-development within an individual.
• Increases Gratitude: While there are fewer benefits of downward comparison, it can help you feel gratitude and contentment towards what you have. When you see other people’s challenges, it puts one’s difficulties in perspective and builds resilience.
• Sense of Belongingness: When people are in a healthy competition with someone similar to them, they can share their abilities and opinions. Knowing that someone out there is feeling just like you fosters a sense of belongingness. It might also help to gather a good peer support system.

Negative Psychological Mechanisms

Social comparison has its fair share of negative thought processes and mechanisms.

• Inaccuracy in Self-Judgement: There might be times when you might compare yourself with someone who is on a different skill level than you. For example, if you are a fresher at an organization and compare your salary to an employee who has been working there for say, 5 years, your self-judgment will be highly inaccurate.
• Jealousy: We all know that constantly comparing ourselves with someone will make us feel jealous of that person. This is a common outcome of upward social comparison. This feeling of envy and jealousy gives rise to feelings of resentment which may in return foster chronic feelings of disappointment and anger.
• Self-Doubt: When you make an upward comparison with someone, it may lead you to doubt your abilities and achievement which can significantly affect your self-esteem. This comparison could be in terms of professional achievements, physical looks, etc. One might feel like they are always falling short which in turn might reduce their motivation and confidence.
• Depression and Anxiety: Constantly comparing yourself and never being satisfied with your achievements and possessions can lead to cognitive distortions. You might start to believe that you can either be the most successful person in the world or a complete failure (all-or-none thinking). It might also lead to catastrophizing, where you assume the worst about yourself compared to other people’s success.

Social Comparison and Social Media

The most common cause of negative comparison these days is social media. With the world at our fingertips and constantly knowing what everyone is up to, social comparison has increased tremendously. When you see someone going on a vacation thrice a year on Instagram, or you see someone being promoted on LinkedIn, or someone going out to fancy restaurants on Facebook, it makes you feel that everyone is out there living their best life and you are stuck here with your dull life. However, it is a half-truth. No one puts their real problems out on social media and therefore when you compare your whole life to their half-truth, you create a distorted perception of your achievements.

Several studies have been conducted to analyze the role of social media in social comparison. In one such study, people who constantly viewed other people’s social media profiles (Facebook in this case) reported having poorer self-perception, lower state of self-esteem, and poorer affect balance. Affect balance is a person’s balance between their positive and negative emotions. It indicates overall happiness. Another such study concluded that continuously interacting, browsing, and broadcasting on Instagram is directly related to increased loneliness in a person’s life.

Constantly comparing ourselves to people who seemingly have a better life than us or are better looking than us reduces our self-esteem and life satisfaction. Sometimes, a moderate amount of usage can also have positive effects on you. For example, you may come across an account that promotes fitness and a healthy diet and you may try to adopt that in your life. It can lead to a healthier lifestyle and thus lead to better mental health.

Managing Social Comparison

While it is extremely normal for an individual to compare themselves with other people to determine where they stand in a group, it should be done in moderation, so that one can adapt its positive effects and work towards their holistic well-being. Some of the ways to manage social comparison are –

• Limit Social Media Usage: The most effective way to manage comparison is to limit your social media usage. Manage it in such a way that it does not curate any negative feelings within you. As mentioned earlier, remember that everyone has their share of problems and difficulties in life which they do not share out in the open on social media.
• Be grateful: Practising gratitude daily helps you count your blessings and stay satisfied with what you have and motivates you to do better.
• Focus on Holistic Growth: Rather than constantly focusing on comparison, you can focus on how you can grow personally and professionally and how that can help you in the long term.

Social comparison theory was given by social psychologist Leon Festinger in 1954, where he explained how people evaluate themselves by comparing themselves to other people similar to them. It can have both positive and negative effects. Positive effects include self-improvement,
belongingness, gratitude, etc., and negative effects include envy, jealousy, self-doubt, etc.