Com Theory - Social Comparison Theory
What is an example of a comparison involving the media?
teen girls comparing themselves to those on TV and developing eating disorders
Who formulated the Social Comparison theory?
Leon Festinger
Upward comparison
a person in the presence of someone who has highly desirable social traits will experience a decrease in self-esteem
downward comparison
a person in the presence of someone who has socially undesirable traits will experience an increase in self-esteem
lateral comparison
comparing yourself to someone who is similar to you to feel reassured, affirmed, less lonely, less isolated
We have a ________ to evaluate ourselves.
drive
Festinger said that "there exists in the human organism, a ______ ___ ___________ his opinions and his abilities."
drive to evaluate
What are some motivations for conducting comparisons?
health concerns, self-esteem, skill development, attractiveness, social skills
Festinger believes we will use other _________ ________ in our environment as easily available standards to which we may compare ourselves.
human beings
in the absence of objective, formal standards of comparison, individuals will
look around in their environment for representations to which they can compare themselves on some criterion or characteristic.
_____ _________ provide us with a multitude of easily accessible models and sources of information in news, entertainment, and advertising
mass media
Heuristic
of or relating to exploratory problem-solving techniques that utilize self-educating techniques to improve performance
availability heruistic
the idea that we use info that is readily available to us to make decisions
What is an example of a comparison involving music?
while we are hurting from the loss of a romantic love, we find it comforting to listen to love songs about loss.
What is an example of a comparison involving social media?
you might compare yourself to someone on Facebook who seems to "have his/her life together" and think less of yourself