social: social comparisons Flashcards
describe Leon Festinger’s social comparison theory (1954)
humans rely on social comparison as they need to have an accurate view of themselves, objective standards of comparison are lacking, facilitates connections with others
what are the 2 driving forces behind making social comparisons?
→ to accurately self evaluate
→ uncertainty reduction
what are the 2 important questions that the theory revolves around?
when do we engage in social comparison?
with whom do we choose to compare ourselves?
when do we engage in social comparison?
when there is no objective standard for us to use as a measure
or
when we experience uncertainty about ourselves in a particular area
with whom do we choose to compare ourselves to?
to similar others when we wish an accurate image of ourselves
someone filled with _______ is _____ prone to making social comparisons
self doubt
more
what are the 2 different types of social comparisons?
upward and downward
what is the difference between upward and downward social comparisons?
upward = comparing ourselves to people who are better than we are in a particular trait/ability
downward = comparing ourselves to people who are worse than us in a particular trait/ability
upward social comparisons can increase positive affect but also increase negative affect. explain how.
can be good:
→ highlight areas for self improvement
→ inspirational
→ produce positive self evaluations
can be bad:
→ highlights our deficits
→ make us feel inadequate
→ negative self evaluations
why do we make downward social comparisons?
can enhance and protect well-being by highlighting how much better off we are than others
(those who feel threatened are more likely to make downward social comparisons)
upward comparisons affect our _______
downward comparisons affect our _____________
future behaviour
immediate affective state
what are the 4 different functions of social comparisons
self knowledge, self enhancement, self improvement, social connection
what is the proxy model of comparison when looking at the self knowledge function
when evaluating ones potential success on a task, individuals are most interested in comparing themselves to someone (proxy) who performed SIMILARLY to them in the past on a comparable task where the proxy was known to have put in maximal effort
assimilation occurs:
→ if we think we could be like the target
→ if we perceive a psychological closest with the target
→ if we have similar attributes to the target
contrast occurs:
→ in the absence of psychological closeness
→ when the attributes shared aren’t relevant
