Dynamics of the Comparison System

Abstract

The Comparison System is a telic system; its elements are self and standards of correctness. These elements have properties with specific values, ranging from a relational state of total identity to a state of total dissimilarity. Of all these possible states, the system’s preferred state is self—standard identity. The attention system moderates the comparison system’s activity. Self will be juxtaposed to standards to the extent attention is directed toward self. This process reveals any differences that might exist between self and the standards. In this chapter, we discuss the basic operation of the comparison system. Later chapters will describe the consequences of self-to-standard comparison.