How do you know if you are shy, competitive, rich, anxious, or anything else. Theory and research concerning social comparisons of personal. Social comparison theory proposes that we use social comparisons to construct our selfconcept, especially when we have no other objective standard available to us festinger, 1954. The theory is a term referring to the process through which people come to know themselves by evaluating their own attitudes, abilities, and beliefs in comparison with others cherry, n. When psychologists think of social comparison theory, they initially recall leon festingers classic paper on a theory of social comparison processes. Social comparison theory, initially proposed by social psychologist leon festinger in 1954, centers on the belief that there is a drive within individuals to gain accurate selfevaluations. At the core of his theory is the idea that people come to know about themselvestheir own abilities. Deutsch and krauss argued that people actually seek out dissimilar others in their comparisons maintaining that this is important for providing valuable selfknowledge, as demonstrated in research. As earlier mentioned, social comparison theory festinger, 1954 posits that individuals have a natural drive to compare their own attributes and abilities with the abilities and attributes of others. People sometimes compare themselves to others as a way of. Social comparison theory social comparison theory the social comparison theory was proposed by the social psychologist leon festinger in 1954. Festinger 1954 a theory of social comparison processes.
This insight forms the heart of festingers social comparison theory festinger, 1954. He has the honor of establishing the experimentation techniques in social psychology to an advanced level. Over 100 journal articles on social comparison have appeared. Human relations entitled a theory of social comparison processes. Although interest in the theory has waxed and waned since then goethals, 1986b. He believed that people have an innate drive to evaluate themselves. When we make what he calls upward comparisons, we measure ourselves against people to whom we feel inferior. In this paper we shall present a further development of a previously published theory concerning opinion influence processes in social groups 7.
Festingers social comparison theory psychology essay. Download a theory of social comparison processes leon festinger book pdf free download link or read online here in pdf. Leon festinger 8 may 1919 11 february 1989 was an american social psychologist, perhaps best known for cognitive dissonance and social comparison theory. The upward drive is a motivation to improve performance and therefore closely associated with competitive behavior, once placed within a social context in which doing. Consequently, snss tend to adhere to the homophily principle people are connected. Teori perbandingan sosial festinger1950, 1954 menyebutkanbahwateori perbandingansosial prosessalingmempengaruhi. Even more so, according to gilbert, price, and allan 1995, the need to compare the self with others is found in many other species as well, and has evolved as a very adaptive mechanism for sizing up ones competitors. Social comparison theory an overview sciencedirect topics. A theory of social comparison processes leon festinger, 1954.
May 04, 2020 in 1951 festinger moved to a tenuretrack position at the university of minnesota, where schachter was already on the faculty. Heinberg and thompson 1992 asked 297 women and men to rate the importance of different comparison groups i. In 1954, festinger proposed a theory of social comparison based on this insight. Leon festinger, 1954 theory of social comparison wild. Leon festingers social comparison theory the psychology. People look to the images portrayed by others to be obtainable and realistic, and subsequently, make.
Think of a situation in which your assigned derivation might happen in the real life of youth. Additional work stimulated by social comparison theory has also indicated that the process may be an important component of body image disturbances. This article integrates these changes with insights offered by recent social comparison studies and by research on social cognition and the self. Read online a theory of social comparison processes leon festinger book pdf free download link book now. May 1, 1954 this article is part of the following special collections. The theory explains how individuals evaluate their own opinions and abilities by comparing themselves to others in order to reduce uncertainty in these domains, and learn how to define the self. Leon festinger was a 20th century psychologist who developed the theories of cognitive dissonance and social comparison. A theory of social comparison processes leon festinger pdf.
In 1954, social psychologist leon festinger popularized socialcomparison theory, which argues that we have an intrinsic desire to assess our progress by comparing ourselves to others. Informal social communication theory was about the power of the group over the person. The theory of social comparison, developed by leon festinger in 1954, is a set of hypotheses, corollaries, and deviations concerned with why, with whom, and to. Apr 19, 2018 thinking about or priming similarity before conducting a comparison lessens this effect, largely in line with current accounts. Comparing ourselves to people who are worse than we are on a particular trait or ability. A theory of social comparison processes leon festinger.
Such comparisons typically occur within groups and in facetoface situations with similar others. Festinger developed social comparison theory in the heyday of group dyna mics, long before the self, attributions, heuristics, and other cognitive mechanisms captured researche rs attention. In 1954, psychologist leon festinger hypothesized that people compare themselves to others in order to fulfill a basic human desire. Informational social influence, normative social influence. The social comparison theory festinger, 1954 is the idea that there is a drive within individuals to look to outside images in order to evaluate their own opinions and abilities. Social comparison activity under threat downward evaluation. The importance of strict theory in developing and guiding programs of research is becoming more and more recognized today.
While social comparison has been given only modest attention in the networks literature, it is a ubiquitous feature of social life as this volume shows, with widereaching implications for decision making and behavior. These subjective ideas only become meaningful in comparison. Media use, social comparison, cognitive dissonance and. The upward drive is a motivation to improve performance and therefore closely associated with competitive behavior. His theories and research are credited with renouncing the previously dominant behaviorist view of social psychology by demonstrating the inadequacy of stimulusresponse conditioning accounts of human behavior. Thinking about or priming similarity before conducting a comparison lessens this effect, largely in line with current accounts. Social comparison theory has evolved considerably since festinger 1954 originally proposed it. Pdf social comparison and influence in groups researchgate. According to social comparison theory, individuals need to evaluate their accomplishments, and they do so by comparing themselves to similar individuals festinger, 1954. According to social comparison theory, individuals determine their own social and personal worth based on how they measure up against others. He is also very wellknown for developing social theory for the proximity effect. Pdf a theory of social comparison processes scinapse. Festinger 1954 proposed that social comparison was driven by a need to evaluate ourselves so that we had more information about ourselves. All books are in clear copy here, and all files are secure so dont worry about it.
A central feature of festingers 1954 original proposal concerned the implications that social comparison processes have for interpersonal interaction. Contrary to the original theory or subsequent research, a the individual is not always an unbiased selfevaluator but may seek many goals through. Social comparison therapy in social media newport academy. Psychologist leon festinger proposed the theory of social comparison in 1954. With respect to humans, theorizing and research on social comparison can be. In 1954, social psychologist leon festinger popularized social comparison theory, which argues that we have an intrinsic desire to assess our progress by comparing ourselves to others. Pdf a theory of social comparison processes semantic. In the early 1950s, the behavioral sciences division of the ford foundation gave leon festinger a grant, which was part of the program of the laboratory for research in social relations. Festinger argued that humans have a drive to evaluate their opinions and abilities. Although festinger 1954 was the first to name the theory of social comparison, the concept of comparison with others has existed since the first social philosophers. Social comparison festinger 1954 proposed that people are drawn into habits of mental comparisons of alternatives mainly because they are driven by the need for selfevaluation. Hochbaum 18 reports an experiment concerning the effect of knowledge of others opinions on. Feb 21, 2014 the social comparison theory was proposed by the social psychologist leon festinger in 1954.
Social comparison theory in psychology verywell mind. These images may be a reference to physical reality or in comparison to other people. This theory explains how individuals evaluate their own opinions and desires by comparing themselves to others. Social comparison and depression in online social networking sites. A theory of social comparison processes, retrieved september 12, 2007, from hum. Jun 11, 2017 in the early 1950s, the behavioral sciences division of the ford foundation gave leon festinger a grant, which was part of the program of the laboratory for research in social relations.
Wish, expectation and group standards as factors influencing level of aspiration,journal of abnormal and social psychology, 1942, 37, 184200. Researchers and theorists, up until festingers 1954 publication of his theory of social. Festinger based his theory on nine hypotheses see table 4. However, in the three decades since the publication of this work, social comparison theory has evolved in several ways. Downward social comparison acts in the opposite direction. Social comparison the comparative nature of selfviews means that people must consult the social world to gain selfknowledge. This paper furthers festingers views on group influences of opinions and applies it to abilities as well. In line with festingers 1954 theory, comparisons have stronger effects if they are on novel dimensions andor with localinvivo targets. Leon festinger was a wellknown american social psychologist. In 1951 festinger moved to a tenuretrack position at the university of minnesota, where schachter was already on the faculty. At the university of minnesota, festinger developed social comparison theory, his second major contribution to social psychology. That is, the theory was elaborated primarily as a social one, such that the need for selfevaluation under conditions of information ambiguity leads people to. People make all kinds of judgments about themselves, and one of the key ways that we do this is through social comparison, or analyzing the self in.
Although interest in the theory has waxed and waned since then goethals, 1986b, social comparison research has enjoyed a resurgence recently. Social comparison is an aspect of social perception, and has developed from a theory initially proposed by social psychologist leon festinger in 1954. Social comparison and competition 9 ones performancewas central to the early formulation social comparison theory festinger, 1954a. Born on 8 th may, 1919, he was the pioneer of social comparison and cognitive dissonance theory. Theory and research concerning social comparisons of. Article information, pdf download for a theory of social comparison processes. Toward a psychological, social, and material contextualization of human choice behavior. This may occur with reference to a physical reality. From this grant, he was able to write his first document on the social comparison theory and published it in the journal of human relations in 1954. A theory of social comparison processes show all authors. Social comparison theory assumes that people tend to evaluate their successes, failures and opinions in relation to others festinger, 1954.
Many criticisms arose regarding festingers similarity hypothesis. Festinger l 1954 a theory of social comparison processes. It has been widely acknowledged that social comparison is a central feature of human social life. A theory of social comparison processes center for human science. These theories continue to play a role in contemporary psychology. Media use, social comparison, cognitive dissonance and peer. Social comparison theory states that individuals determine their own social and personal worth based on how they stack up against others. Social comparison theory and drive for self evaluation. Although social comparison theory has been related in the past to work on social cognition e. The theory explains how individuals evaluate their own opinions and abilities by comparing themselves to others in order to reduce uncertainty in these.
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