Informal social communication theory was about the power of the group over the person. 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. People look to the images portrayed by others to be obtainable and realistic, and subsequently, make. Social comparison theory assumes that people tend to evaluate their successes, failures and opinions in relation to others 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. Social comparison activity under threat downward evaluation. He has the honor of establishing the experimentation techniques in social psychology to an advanced level. He believed that people have an innate drive to evaluate themselves. Human relations entitled a theory of social comparison processes. Pdf a theory of social comparison processes semantic scholar. Although social comparison theory has been related in the past to work on social cognition e. In 1951 festinger moved to a tenuretrack position at the university of minnesota, where schachter was already on the faculty. Media use, social comparison, cognitive dissonance and.
Article information, pdf download for a theory of social comparison processes. How do you know if you are shy, competitive, rich, anxious, or anything else. 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. A theory of social comparison processes center for human science. Leon festinger, 1954 theory of social comparison wild. 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. 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. Teori perbandingan sosial festinger1950, 1954 menyebutkanbahwateori perbandingansosial prosessalingmempengaruhi. Read online a theory of social comparison processes leon festinger book pdf free download link book now. The theory explains how individuals evaluate their own opinions and abilities by comparing themselves to others in order to reduce uncertainty in these.
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. Festinger l 1954 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. According to social comparison theory, individuals determine their own social and personal worth based on how they measure up against others.
Media use, social comparison, cognitive dissonance and peer. Festinger 1954 a theory of social comparison processes. 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. Born on 8 th may, 1919, he was the pioneer of social comparison and cognitive dissonance 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. At the core of his theory is the idea that people come to know about themselvestheir own abilities. With respect to humans, theorizing and research on social comparison can be. When psychologists think of social comparison theory, they initially recall leon festingers classic paper on a theory of social comparison processes. Social comparison theory social comparison theory the social comparison theory was proposed by the social psychologist leon festinger in 1954. Social comparison theory was first proposed in 1954 by psychologist leon festinger and suggested that people have an innate drive to evaluate themselves, often in comparison to others. Leon festinger was a wellknown american social psychologist. Leon festinger a theory of social comparison processes.
These subjective ideas only become meaningful in comparison. Over 100 journal articles on social comparison have appeared. Social comparison the comparative nature of selfviews means that people must consult the social world to gain selfknowledge. A theory of social comparison processes show all authors.
Downward social comparison acts in the opposite direction. This may occur with reference to a physical reality. Although interest in the theory has waxed and waned since then goethals, 1986b. 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. Apr 19, 2018 thinking about or priming similarity before conducting a comparison lessens this effect, largely in line with current accounts.
Pdf social comparison and influence in groups researchgate. Festingers social comparison theory psychology essay. 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. People sometimes compare themselves to others as a way of.
Additional work stimulated by social comparison theory has also indicated that the process may be an important component of body image disturbances. Leon festinger 8 may 1919 11 february 1989 was an american social psychologist, perhaps best known for cognitive dissonance and social comparison theory. When we make what he calls upward comparisons, we measure ourselves against people to whom we feel inferior. At the university of minnesota, festinger developed social comparison theory, his second major contribution to social psychology.
These images may be a reference to physical reality or in comparison to other people. Early research in social psychology on level of aspiration and on reference groups contributed to leon festingers social comparison theory, which he proposed in 1954. A theory of social comparison processes leon festinger. 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.
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. Pdf a theory of social comparison processes semantic. However, in the three decades since the publication of this work, social comparison theory has evolved in several ways. Informational social influence, normative social influence. Leon festinger was a 20th century psychologist who developed the theories of cognitive dissonance and social comparison. Theory and research concerning social comparisons of personal. Consequently, snss tend to adhere to the homophily principle people are connected. 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. Social comparison and competition 9 ones performancewas central to the early formulation social comparison theory festinger, 1954a. Feb 21, 2014 the social comparison theory was proposed by the social psychologist leon festinger in 1954. 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.
Contrary to the original theory or subsequent research, a the individual is not always an unbiased selfevaluator but may seek many goals through. May 04, 2020 in 1951 festinger moved to a tenuretrack position at the university of minnesota, where schachter was already on the faculty. The importance of strict theory in developing and guiding programs of research is becoming more and more recognized today. Many criticisms arose regarding festingers similarity hypothesis. The upward drive is a motivation to improve performance and therefore closely associated with competitive behavior. Social comparison theory has evolved considerably since festinger 1954 originally proposed it. Social comparison theory an overview sciencedirect topics. May 1, 1954 this article is part of the following special collections.
Researchers and theorists, up until festingers 1954 publication of his theory of social. Social comparison theory and drive for self evaluation. Leon festingers social comparison theory the psychology. It has been widely acknowledged that social comparison is a central feature of human social life. 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.
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. This article integrates these changes with insights offered by recent social comparison studies and by research on social cognition and the self. Theory and research concerning social comparisons of. Festinger based his theory on nine hypotheses see table 4. A theory of social comparison processes leon festinger, 1954. Comparing ourselves to people who are worse than we are on a particular trait or ability. Download a theory of social comparison processes leon festinger book pdf free download link or read online here in pdf. 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. He is also very wellknown for developing social theory for the proximity effect. Although interest in the theory has waxed and waned since then goethals, 1986b, social comparison research has enjoyed a resurgence recently. Festinger 1954 proposed that social comparison was driven by a need to evaluate ourselves so that we had more information about ourselves. Hochbaum 18 reports an experiment concerning the effect of knowledge of others opinions on.
Social comparison is an aspect of social perception, and has developed from a theory initially proposed by social psychologist leon festinger in 1954. 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. This paper furthers festingers views on group influences of opinions and applies it to abilities as well. Wish, expectation and group standards as factors influencing level of aspiration,journal of abnormal and social psychology, 1942, 37, 184200. Psychologist leon festinger proposed the theory of social comparison in 1954.
A theory of social comparison processes leon festinger pdf. Think of a situation in which your assigned derivation might happen in the real life of youth. These theories continue to play a role in contemporary psychology. 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. Toward a psychological, social, and material contextualization of human choice behavior. A theory of social comparison processes, retrieved september 12, 2007, from hum. Thinking about or priming similarity before conducting a comparison lessens this effect, largely in line with current accounts. Festinger argued that humans have a drive to evaluate their opinions and abilities. Social comparison therapy in social media newport academy.
This insight forms the heart of festingers social comparison theory festinger, 1954. 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. Social comparison theory states that individuals determine their own social and personal worth based on how they stack up against others. Pdf a theory of social comparison processes scinapse. 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. 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. In line with festingers 1954 theory, comparisons have stronger effects if they are on novel dimensions andor with localinvivo targets. In this paper we shall present a further development of a previously published theory concerning opinion influence processes in social groups 7. According to social comparison theory, individuals need to evaluate their accomplishments, and they do so by comparing themselves to similar individuals festinger, 1954. 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.
Social comparison theory in psychology verywell mind. Such comparisons typically occur within groups and in facetoface situations with similar others. 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. In 1954, psychologist leon festinger hypothesized that people compare themselves to others in order to fulfill a basic human desire.
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