Theory and Research Concerning Social Comparisons of Personal Attributes

TLDR: Social comparison theory has evolved considerably since Festinger (1954) originally proposed it as discussed by the authors, and it is not always an unbiased self-evaluator but may seek many goals through social comparison; the social environment may not be inactive but may impose unwanted comparisons; and the comparison process involves more than selecting a comparison target.

Abstract: Social comparison theory has evolved considerably since Festinger (1954) originally proposed it. This article integrates these changes with insights offered by recent social comparison studies and by research on social cognition and the self. Contrary to the original theory or subsequent research, (a) the individual is not always an unbiased self-evaluator but may seek many goals through social comparison; (b) the social environment may not be inactive but may impose unwanted comparisons; and (c) the comparison process involves more than selecting a comparison target: It is bidirectional, rather than unidirectional, and it may adopt a variety of forms to meet the individual's goals. Research involving comparisons of personal attributes illustrates these principles. The couples we knew were also aging.., and paid rising taxes and suffered automobile accidents and midnight illnesses and marital woe; but under the tireless supervision of gossip all misfortunes were compared, and confessed, and revealed as relative. (Updike, 1985, p. 48) Salieri, speaking of Mozart, in Amadeus: Tonight... stands a giggling child who can put on paper, without actually setting down his billiard cue, casual notes which turn my most considered ones into lifeless scratches... [That] ensured that I would know myself forever mediocre. (Shatfer, 1980, p. 61) An important source of knowledge about oneself is comparisons with other people. In 1954, Festinger proposed a theory of social comparison based on this insight. Although interest in the theory has waxed and waned since then (Goethals, 1986b), social comparison research has enjoyed a resurgence recently: Over 100 journal articles on social comparison have appeared since 1982, which is almost three times the number published in the theory's first 12 years (Radloff& Bard, 1966). Moreover, social comparison processes are central to other prominent theories in social psychology, including relative deprivation (Masters & Smith, 1987; Olson, Herman. & Zanna, 1986), Tesser's self-evaluation maintenance model (Tenet, 1986), and Tajfel and Turner's (1979) social identity theory of groups. Although social comparison theory was once dubbed "everybody's second-favorite theory in social psychology (but almost nobody's first)" (Arrowood, 1978, p. 491 ), the literature has never before had more vitality. These developments call for a reexamination of social comparison theory. For some time, researchers have operated under an understanding of social comparison that goes beyond Festinger's (1954) original theory and that in some ways contradicts