Social Comparison Theory by Leon Festinger

1. Presenter: Joan Letting

2. OVERVIEW OF KEY IDEAS
Content
Synopsis
Introduction
Background
Types of Social Comparison
Examples
Social Comparison in Health Communication
Conclusion

3. Introduction
How many times have you compared
yourself to your friends or colleagues
using a trait that you consider desirable,
for example, money or success?
This comparison is known as social
comparison.

4. Proposed in 1954 by psychologist
Leon Festinger
Suggested that people have an innate
drive to evaluate themselves, often in
comparison to others
believed that we engage in this
comparison process as a way of
establishing a benchmark by which
we can make accurate evaluations of
ourselves

5. Determine whether we are good
enough (abilities) or correct
(opinions)
Set a benchmark of what we aim
to achieve
Festinger (1954) argued that we are
driven to assess our abilities and
opinions to:
1.
2.
This benchmark is referred to as the
level of aspiration.
Social
Comparison
Theory

7. There are two kinds
of social
comparison
upward social
comparison
downward social
comparison.

8. Takes place when we compare
ourselves with those whom we believe
are better than us.
Often focuses on the desire to improve
our current status or level of ability
We might compare ourselves to
someone better off and look for ways
that we can achieve similar results.
Upward Social Comparison

9. Example

10. Downward Social
Comparison
Takes place when we compare
ourselves to others who are worse off
than us.
Such downward comparisons are
often centered on making ourselves
feel better about our abilities or traits.
We might not be great at something, but
at least we are better off than someone
else.

11. Example
A pupil in a school in Nairobi Pupils in a school in Tiaty, Baringo

12. Boosting self-esteem
Experiencing positive emotions such as happiness
Reducing anxiety
People compare themselves to those who are better when they want
inspiration to improve, and they compare themselves to those who
are worse when they want to feel better about themselves.
Downward social comparisons also result in various other positive
outcomes (Amoroso & Walters, 1969; Gibbons, 1986; Buunk &
Gibbons, 2007) such as:
Mental
Health
Myths

13. Comparisons about… Upward social comparisons
Downward social
comparisons
Sporting performance
My neighbour inspires me. If he can
run a half-marathon, then so can I.
I feel happy knowing that I beat
my neighbor in the half-
marathon.
Physical appearance
My friend met her target weight. If
she can, then so can I.
At least I am not as heavy as
other people I know.
Job performance
My colleague always
manages to balance work
and life. I want to achieve
that.
My other colleague’s
situation reminds me to plan
my work better so that I’m
not in the same position that
they’re in.

14. Intelligence
My friend is smarter than
I am. She just gets it.
My colleague struggles all the time with
the same topics, whereas it just clicks for
me.
Relationships
Couple Z makes it look
so easy. They get along
so well and never fight,
unlike us.
When I see couple X fight, I’m reminded
to be grateful for my relationship. It
could be a lot worse!
Money
I want to work hard so
that I can earn the same
amount as my boss.
Before he knew it, he was laid off. At
least I have a job, but it could change
any day.

16. On Social media
Increased depressive symptoms (Feinstein et al., 2013)
Experience of depressive episodes three weeks later
(Feinstein et al., 2013)
Lower self-esteem (de Vries & Kühne, 2015; Liu et al., 2017)
Lower body image (de Vries & Kühne, 2015; Liu et al., 2017)
We mostly engage in more upward social comparisons on social
media than we would in real life, which results in feelings of
inferiority and envy. Some evidence exists that the immediate
use of social media results in:

18. In health communication
In the health domain, the comparison provides information
about medical risks, identifies behaviours that are health-
promoting and health-damaging, and clarifies whether the
individual has sufficient ability to perform the requisite
behaviours. Self-enhancement refers to the desire to feel
better or protect oneself from the consequences of
threatening information (Wills, 1981; Wood, Taylor &
Lichtman, 1985).
This motive is relevant to health because the occurrence or
prospect of personal illness and its consequences are
inherently threatening to the physical and psychological well-
being of the self.

19. A patient gauging his or her physical health status should seek a
comparison standard with patients with the same disease, of the same age,
gender, height, and weight and chose who engage In similar health
practices. The patient ought to function about the same as this comparison
standard, but if functioning better than the standard, the patient can infer
better health. Comparing along related attribute dimensions allow us to get
a better understanding of our personal situation (Goethals & Darley, 1977).

20. Some times, however, people want to know more than simply that they are
n good or poor health, but what they are capable of achieving ("Can I do X?).
For example, chronic illness patients want to know whether they will get
better or worse: "Can I return to my 40-hour a week job?" "Am I again able to
play sports with my children or peers?" and so on.
One way to answer such questions is to compare with someone-referred to as
a proxy who seems to have a similar level of ability and who has already
succeeded at the task (Wheeler, Martin, & Suls, 1997). If people have the
same amount or more ability than the proxy does, they can conclude with
some confidence that they could also do as well.
(Goethals & Darley, 1977).

21. Prior to or following surgery, patients may be
asked to view videotapes depicting the
procedure and its sequelae and what practices
should be followed post-discharge. Often, these
videotapes feature real patients or actors
posing as patients who describe their
experiences.
More informal health communications may
be transmitted in patient support groups
where some comparisons may be implicit
and explicit.
A surgery patient recovering in the hospital may
feel better after comparing with the patient in
the next bed who is experiencing more pain and
adversity after experiencing the same surgery.
Social
Comparison in
health
Communication

23. Buunk, B. P., & Brenninkmeijer, V. (2001). When individuals dislike exposure to an
actively coping role model: Mood change as related to depression and social
comparison orientation. European Journal of Social Psychology, 31(5), 537–548.
Feinstein, B. A., Hershenberg, R., Bhatia, V., Latack, J. A., Meuwly, N., & Davila, J. (2013).
Negative social comparison on Facebook and depressive symptoms: Rumination as a
mechanism. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 2(3), 161–170.
Festinger L. A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations. 1954;7(2):117-
140. doi:10.1177/001872675400700202
Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7(2),
117–140.
Kesici S, Erdogan A. Mathematics anxiety according to middle school students'
achievement motivation and social comparison. Education. 2010;131(1):54-63.
Suls, J., & Bruchmann, K. (2013). Social comparison and persuasion in health
communications. In L. Martin & R. DiMatteo (Eds.). Oxford Handbook of Health
Communication, Behavior Change, and Treatment Adherence. NY: Oxford University
Press.
References