Enhancing satisfaction through downward comparison: The role of relational discontent and individual differences in social comparison orientation. When asked who individuals wanted to compare themselves with, the majority chose people who achieve higher scores (Wheeler, 1966). Lifes enough: Stop comparing yourself to others. (2000). The Enlightenment of the 17th Century challenged the thinking about law and justice. In L. Berkowitz (Ed. Each of us was born in a unique set of circumstances, in a unique environment, and our successes are not limited by the people who we compare ourselves to. Unfortunately, the incentive theory is so heavily reliant on . While some of these theories have been accepted, other theories have been heavily debated and opposed by academics around the world. These individuals also reported more resultant depressive symptoms (Liu et al., 2017). I feel like its a lifeline. Still, one pattern seems clear: the outcome of social comparisons hinges on who we are, who we are comparing ourselves to, and what we want from the comparison. Social comparisons are normal. Moreover, the essay found that though the classical perspective was key in creating the concepts behind contemporary ideas of justice, it was the Positivistic approach which should be seem as more relevant in todays world. For example, when cancer patients meet other patients whose illness has progressed further, they reported that they felt threatened. 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STRENGTHS AND LIMITATION OF SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY Good way of understanding human behavior, i.e. Within a group, there may be an individual whose ability or opinion diverges significantly from the other members. Social Comparison Theory & 12 Real-Life Examples. Depressive personality styles, dysphoria, and social comparisons in everyday life. Why dont we use objective criteria? It builds on the classical perspectives strengths of establishing the rule of law and adds the individual to the idea of justice; for without the concept of individual rights, the rights of groups such as the Working Class and political, ethnic and sexual minorities would not exist. ),, Wheeler, L. (1966). Along [], Chamber of Commerce (KvK) Registration Number: 64733564, 6229 HN Maastricht, 2023 PositivePsychology.com B.V. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Strengths . Individual differences in social comparison: Development of a scale of social comparison orientation. Your email address will not be published. Cognitive theory is best suited in addressing problems that are encountered in social and developmental psychology. Positive psychology has many exercises to help people do both, as do other modalities. Festinger's social comparison theory, developed in 1954, states that people compare themselves in order . For example, students starting college might feel overwhelmed with academic and social expectations, and graduates starting their first job might also rely on social comparisons as a way to judge their performance. Contrastive outcomes result in desirable outcomes for us; we feel pride because we are better. Assimilative outcomes remind us that we could be in the same situation as the comparison, and this realization induces fear or worry. Social Contract Theory has had massive influence in western governments, as one of the oldest theories pertaining to the ordnance of citizens in society. Sometimes these behaviors make us feel better and can be motivating; however, they can also lead to detrimental side effects. Buunk, B. P., & Brenninkmeijer, V. (2001). Or, he can compare himself to someone who hit only a few home runs, or to the average for baseball. Strengths. . Upward assimilative comparisons are motivating because we believe that we can achieve the same level of success, whereas downward assimilative comparisons remind us that we could easily do worse. Sometimes we may choose to handicap ourselves by choosing someone who is extremely superior (Shepperd & Taylor, 1999). For example, my upward drive is stronger for topics that interest me. This essay sample was donated by a student to help the academic community. This theory has been applied numerously in the evaluation of how a person views and understands themselves (Yazdiha, 2019). I always like to know what others in a similar situation would do. Festinger's initial formulation of social comparison theory depended on a reality with no firm answers, a world in which intelligence, wealth, and attractiveness are comparatively, and not ultimately, known. In early research, social comparison was measured using Likert scales and open-ended questions in an interview (Wood et al., 1985). Moreover, what the above has shown was that classicism had no concept of the individual; however, that was going to change with theories of Positivists thinkers who would bring into focus the idea of the individual. A weakness of this model is that it could be time-consuming. Social comparison theory came about thanks to a psychologist by the name of Leon Festinger. Think about an adolescent girl who compares her body to the body of models on the cover of magazines. It helped me pass my exam and the test questions are very similar to the practice quizzes on Study.com. In instances where an objective metric doesnt exist, we can rely on either self-evaluation or social evaluation. Contrastive comparisons further emphasize the difference between the compared persons and us. Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Social comparison theory states that in the absence of objective measures for self-evaluation, we compare ourselves to others to find out how we're doing. Festinger (1954) argued that we are driven to assess our abilities and opinions to: This benchmark is referred to as the level of aspiration. If we find that our ability/opinion is highly similar to the benchmark of perceived-to-be-similar individuals, then we feel more emboldened and confident in our abilities/opinions. ethnocentrism, favoritism, conformity, serotyping. Both upward and downward comparisons have benefits and drawbacks. For these comparisons, we need to rely on more subjective metrics. After collecting relevant inputs from everyone, synthesize the given information to arrive at a decision. World Futures: Journal of Global Education 62, 7, 481-490.) Membership to a social group affects the behaviour of an individual. Demonstrates that people seek a positive social identity and that their social identity is affected by being a part of their group so that you are more positive towards anything that your own group represents. For example, I would need to choose an appropriate comparison person when making a meaningful judgment about my daily work productivity. Whereas, the classical idea of punishment, like that of Jeremy Bentham (1995 [1791]) and his Panopticon, were about that the punishment should fit the crime; essentially retribution and deterrence. 105 lessons This theory concentrates on the positive results of people's actions, creating an environment that is upbeat and focused on success. You are using an out of date browser. When making a social evaluation, we are unlikely to compare ourselves with a randomly chosen individual; instead, we are inclined to draw comparisons with individuals whose ability or opinion we judge as being close to our own. The study "Strengths and Weaknesses of Cultural Theories" aimed at finding out whether the frameworks can help managers. Not all group members are included in comparisons. (n.d.). The strengths of this theory seem to outweigh the weaknesses. We may sabotage the efforts of other people so that they perform less well (Pemberton & Sedikides, 2001). Liu, Q. Q., Zhou, Z. K., Yang, X. J., Niu, G. F., Tian, Y., & Fan, C. Y. Get unlimited access to over 84,000 lessons. Upward social comparisons, meanwhile, can inspire us to do better and kindle a spirit of competition that leads us to trying even harder. According to Leon Festingers (1954) social comparison theory, we have a need to evaluate our opinions and abilities, to figure out our strengths and weaknesses, in order to have an accurate view of ourselves. ), Tesser, A. | 9 Self-Monitoring, Ingratiation, and Self-Handicapping: Definition & Examples, Psychological Research & Experimental Design, All Teacher Certification Test Prep Courses, The Self: Executive and Organizational Functions & Gender and Cultural Differences, Introspection and Self-Awareness Theory in Psychology: Definition & Examples, Self-Perception Theory: Definition and Examples, Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation in Education: Definition & Examples, Two-Factor Theory of Emotions: Definition and Relation to the Misattribution of Arousal, Social-Comparison Theory: Upward vs. In downward social comparisons, the comparison person (the other) always has an outcome that we consider undesirable since their outcome is inferior to our own. The concept of social comparison was first termed and fully developed by Festinger (1954), who hypothesized that we are unable to self-judge our opinions and abilities accurately and instead rely on comparing ourselves to other people to form an evaluation. A theory of social comparison processes. Built with love in the Netherlands. This theory explains why cancer patients felt afraid when they met other cancer patients who were worse off; they had adopted downward assimilative social comparisons. Essay Service Examples Sociology Social Contract Theory. Lombroso was in essence labelling people as members of a criminal class. When individuals dislike exposure to an actively coping role model: Mood change as related to depression and social comparison orientation. Both types of social comparison can result in negative and positive effects. Wood et al. - Cialdini et al (1976) analyzed US university uni football scores; when a team won students tended to wear . Someone similar to me would be a good example (e.g., approximately the same age and education without children), and I would not compare myself against someone exceptionally dissimilar (e.g., a parent who is trying to work while keeping an eye on their children). The Influence of Groupthink on Workplace Change. The primary accentuation is on the physical and mental impacts of way of life numerous individuals accept by relying upon the quick fast food chains. Many criticisms arose regarding Festinger's similarity hypothesis. The effect of upward social comparison is variable. If you struggle to refrain from social comparisons, try to reframe the social comparisons so that you can express gratitude. Concerns. Either way, the net result is that the group members become more similar. We can say that he hit 39 home runs last season. For example: For each item, participants indicate their level of agreement on a five-point scale, ranging from I disagree strongly to I agree strongly. The scale has high reliability (ranging between .78 to .85 for various samples), indicating that the measurements are stable. Finally, the strengths and limitations of this method of inquiry as applied to nursing research using a brief case study approach is presented. Piaget's cognitive development theory has enabled . In such situations, the open-ended interview would be transcribed and then coded by two independent coders using a logbook. The ideas behind Hobbs et al are just as relevant today as at any time since they were developed as argued in this essay especially the social contract. When, gradually the society started growing, the Divine/ Supreme power was vested the authority in certain chosen humans which came to be known as Kings. That new way of thinking was the classical ideas of justice or classicism. Better Help. In contrast, social evaluations are more stable and informative, and we tend to prefer them to self-assessments. Moore, S. (2014). The article was published when? Curwen, J. Both upward and downward comparisons have strengths and weaknesses. For example, I am more motivated to improve my ability/skills when I dont feel like the comparison person will treat me poorly or like I am inferior. How many times have you compared yourself to your friends or colleagues using a trait that you consider desirable, for example, money or success? Social comparison and depression: Companys effect on misery. Although downward social comparison might seem like a quick and dirty move to boost our self-esteem, the effects of downward social comparisons are variable and can also result in negative outcomes. Hedonic consequences of social comparison: A contrast of happy and unhappy people. (Simmons, DE (2006). Some people engage in comparisons more often than others. 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