How do we know who we are? An update on social comparison theory

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How do we know who we are?An update on social
comparison theory
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Sources of Self-Knowledge

• Global self-esteem
• Direct feedback from others
• Indirect feedback from others
• Reflected appraisals
• Self-perception
• Social comparison

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Self-Perception

• Bems SP theory when internal cues are difficult
  to interpret, people gain self-insight by
  observing their own behavior.
• Emotions---facial feedback
• Motivation---reward study

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• Self-Perception Theory

Self-perception I do this because I like it.
Intrinsic Motivation
No external reward
Enjoyable activities
Self-perception I do this because Im paid
to.
Extrinsic Motivation
External reward (e.g., )
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Festinger (1954). A theory of social comparison
processes.

• People are driven to evaluate their opinions and
  abilities.
• Emphasis on Accuracy
• The holding of incorrect opinions and/or
  inaccurate appraisals of ones abilities can be
  punishing or even fatal in many situations.

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Festinger (1954). A theory of social comparison
processes.

• 2. In the absence of objective information,
  people compare to others.
• 3. People prefer to compare to others who have
  similar abilities.

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Two types of social comparison research

• Reactions to comparison- what happens to
  self-evaluations when people encounter social
  comparisons?
• Comparison choice- when do people choose to
  compare to others? With whom do people compare?

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Social Comparison Direction

• Upward social comparison- compare to someone who
  is better than you.
• Downward social comparison- compare to someone
  who is worse than you.

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Testing the Similarity Hypothesis Rank Order
Paradigm

1. 19
2. ??
3. ??
4. 12 ? You
5. ??
6. ??
7. 7

• Which score would you like to see?

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Testing the Similarity Hypothesis Related
AttributesSuls et al. (1979)
Participant Gender Chose Male Norm Chose Female Norm Chose Combined Norm
Male 44.1 0 55.9
Female 0 61.1 38.9
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Support for the Similarity Hypothesis

• Rank order paradigmcompare to others with
  similar scores.
• Related attributes paradigmcompare to others
  with similar characteristics (e.g., gender).

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Social Comparison and Objective Information

• Festinger In the absence of objective
  information, people compare to others.

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Klein (1997)Social comparison and objective
information

• Ps received feedback on a test of esthetic
  ability.

Upward SC Downward SC
High score You 60 Avg 80 You 60 Avg 40
Low score You 40 Avg 60 You 40 Avg 20
DVs Self-evaluations and Task Choice
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Klein (1997) Results

• Self-evaluations were sig. affected by social
  comparison info, but not objective info.
• Choice of task was sig. affected by both.
• Interpretation People use SC even when they have
  (more useful) objective info.

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Comparison ChoiceBuckingham (2001). Does
objective information reduce the drive to compare
to others?

• Accuracy perspective
• The more information people have about an
  ability, the less interest they should have in
  comparing to other individuals.

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Buckingham (2001). Procedure

• 59 female students participated in a driving
  safety study.
• Ps completed the Driving Appraisal Inventory.
• Experimenter provided feedback.
• You have a 20 chance of causing an automobile
  accident.

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Buckingham (2001).Variables

• Manipulation
• Control group no further information.
• Safer than average group the average risk for
  a woman your age is 30.
• Riskier than average group the average risk
  for a woman your age is 10.
• Dependent variable
• Would you like to see how others scored?

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Buckingham (2001)Results
Control (no average) Riskier than average Safer than average
Percentage requesting comparison information 52 65 20
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When do people compare with others?

• Accuracy perspective
• The more information people have about an
  ability, the less interest they should have in
  comparing to other individuals.
• Revision
• Additional information (e.g., the average)
  reduces the drive to compare when it puts the
  person in a favorable light.

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How Frequently do People Compare With Others?

• Wheeler Miyake (1992)
• Diary study using the Rochester Social Comparison
  Record.
• On average, participants recorded 23.5
  comparisons over 13.1 days.

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Social Comparison MotivesWood, 1989

• Why do people compare with others?
• Self-evaluation (accuracy)- people want valid
  info about themselves.
• Self-enhancement- people want to feel good about
  themselves.
• Self-improvement- people want to get better.