Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences pp 1–5Cite as

Social Comparisons (Upward and Downward)

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:

Synonyms

Self/other evaluations; Social comparison theory; Upward/downward social comparisons

Definition

Social comparison refers to the processes by which individuals evaluate their own abilities, opinions, attitudes, feelings, physical features, accomplishments, or any other self-aspect in relation to other individuals and/or groups.

What Is Social Comparison?

Social comparison refers to the processes by which individuals evaluate their own abilities, opinions, attitudes, feelings, physical features, accomplishments, or any other self-aspects in relation to other individuals and/or groups (Festinger 1954; Gibbons and Buunk 1999; Lyubomirsky and Ross 1997). A critical element involved in social comparison is the motivation to better understand the self in relation to others. Indeed, motivation is at the center of one of the most highly celebrated social-psychological theories, first proposed in a seminal paper by Leon Festinger (1954), under the name social comparison theory.

Social...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Buunk, B. P., Collins, R. L., Taylor, S. E., VanYperen, N. W., & Dakof, G. A. (1990). The affective consequences of social comparison: either direction has its ups and downs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(6), 1238–1249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, R. L. (1996). For better or worse: The impact of upward social comparison on self- evaluations. Psychological Bulletin, 119(1), 51–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7(2), 117–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbons, F. X., & Buunk, B. P. (1999). Individual differences in social comparison: Development of a scale of social comparison orientation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(1), 129–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goethals, G. R., & Darley, J. M. (1977). Social comparison theory: An attributional approach. In J. M. Suls & R. L. Miller (Eds.), Social comparison processes: Theoretical and empirical perspectives (pp. 259–278). Washington, DC: Hemisphere.

    Google Scholar 

  • Helgeson, V. S., & Taylor, S. E. (1993). Social comparisons and adjustment among cardiac patients. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25, 1171–1195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyubomirsky, S., & Ross, R. (1997). Hedonic consequences of social comparison: A contrast of happy and unhappy people. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(6), 1141–1157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, C. T. (1982). The role of performance-related similarity in social comparison of abilities: A test of the related attributes hypothesis. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 18, 513–523.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mussweiler, T. (2001a). ‘Seek and ye shall find’: Antecedents of assimilation and contrast in social comparison. European Journal of Social Psychology, 31(5), 499–509.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mussweiler, T. (2001b). Focus of comparison as a determinant of assimilation versus contrast in social comparison. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(1), 38–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rancourt, D., Leahey, T. M., LaRose, J. G., & Crowther, J. H. (2015). Effects of weight-focused social comparisons on diet and activity outcomes in overweight and obese young women. Obesity, 23(1), 85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S. E., & Lobel, M. (1989). Social comparison activity under threat: Downward evaluation and upward contacts. Psychological Review, 96(4), 569–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S. E., Aspinwall, L. G., Giuliano, T. A., Dakof, G. A., & Reardon, K. K. (1993). Storytelling and coping with stressful events. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 23(9), 703–733.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wills, T. A. (1981). Downward comparison principles in social psychology. Psychological Bulletin, 90(2), 245–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, J. V. (1989). Theory and research concerning social comparisons of personal attributes. Psychological Bulletin, 106, 231–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, J. V., Taylor, S. E., & Lichtman, R. R. (1985). Social comparison in adjustment to breast cancer. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 1169–1183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Joshua J. Guyer

  2. Department of Psychology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

    Thomas I. Vaughan-Johnston

Authors
  1. Joshua J. Guyer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Thomas I. Vaughan-Johnston
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joshua J. Guyer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    John F. Rauthmann

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Guyer, J.J., Vaughan-Johnston, T.I. (2018). Social Comparisons (Upward and Downward). In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1912-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1912-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation