Language: English
Year: 1977
Keywords: Historical Review | Sociology | Psychology | Group Processes | Social Adjustment | Self‐Perception | Social Sciences | Science | Sociocultural Factors |
Social Behavior | Behavior | Perception | Psychological Factors
Document Number:
Social comparison theory and research.
Suls JM
In: Social comparison processes. Theoretical and empirical perspectives, edited by Jerry M. Suls, Richard L. Miller. Washington, D.C., Hemisphere Publishing, 1977.
1‐19.
The most important trend in social comparison theory since the mid‐1950s has been an increased emphasis on the social underpinnings of the self‐ concept.
Self‐evaluation has become more relativistic and based on a comparison with the traits, opinions, and abilities of other significant individuals. The pioneer of social
comparison theory, Leon Festinger, stressed how individuals use social groups to fulfill their informational needs to evaluate their opinions and abilities and will modify
their aspirations and performance to achieve uniformity with others. If there is a divergence of opinion, the individual is likely to modify his beliefs to bring them into line
with those of the reference group. In general, however, individual seek out others whose abilities or opinions are similar to their own, there by avoiding the need to reduce
discrepancies. According to Festinger, the segmentation of society permits individuals to compare themselves only with their own group. Another major advance in this
field was made by Stacy Adams in 1965. Adam's theory of inequity in social exchange posited that individuals compare the rate of their inputs ﴾effort and qualifications﴿
and outcomes ﴾rewards﴿ from a similar situation to determine whether they have been treated fairly. Subsequent studies extended comparison theory to the evaluation of
personality dimensions, suggesting that unidirectional drive and self‐enhancement are important determinants of comparison choice. a significant recent development has
been the application of comparison processes to the evaluation of social problems.