According to festingers theory of social comparison people gain selfknowledge and selfawareness by comparing themselves to others. Theory and research concerning social comparisons of personal attributes joanne v. In general, social psychologists, always looking for the next great theory, seemed to have shelved this book and its concepts within a couple of decades after it came out in 1957 see leon festingers comments 30 years later in appendix b of cognitive dissonance progress on a pivotal theory in social. In line with festingers 1954 theory, comparisons have stronger effects if they are on novel dimensions andor with localinvivo targets. His work in social psychology focused on the impact of the social environment on the formation and change of attitudes, on processes of social comparison by which individuals evaluate their attitudes and abilities, and on the manner in which cognitive inconsistencies cause changes in attitudes and behaviors.
Social comparison theory an overview sciencedirect topics. Social comparison theory has evolved considerably since festinger 1954 originally proposed it. His first hypothesis states that there exist, in the human organism, a drive to evaluate his opinions and abilities. In 1951 festinger moved to a tenuretrack position at the university of minnesota, where schachter was already on the faculty. There exists, in the human organism, a drive to evaluate his opinions and his abilities. People sometimes compare themselves to others as a way of. A theory of social comparison processes leon festinger pdf. The theory explains how individuals evaluate their own opinions and abilities by comparing themselves to others in order to reduce uncertainty in these. Deutsch and krauss argued that people actually seek out dissimilar others in their comparisons maintaining that this is important for providing valuable selfknowledge, as demonstrated in research. Jun 11, 2017 leon festinger mentioned his hypotheses in his book entitled social comparison processes that gives substantial exploration of his theory. Festinger defined two types of comparisons upward comparisons and downward comparisons. Apr 19, 2018 thinking about or priming similarity before conducting a comparison lessens this effect, largely in line with current accounts.
Pdf a theory of social comparison processes semantic. A social comparison approach to organizational choice under what circumstances does social information affect choices. The development of social comparison hinged on several sociopsychological processes, and in order to create this theory, festinger used research from colleagues that focused on social communication, group dynamics, the autokinetic effect, compliant behavior, social groups and level of aspiration festinger, 1954. The social comparison theory was developed by social psychologist leon festinger. Cognitive dissonance leon festinger according to cognitive dissonance theory, there is a tendency for individuals to seek consistency among their cognitions i. Aug 31, 2000 comparison of objects, events, and situations is integral to judgment. In this timely handbook a distinguished roster of researchers and theoreticians describe where the field has been since its.
A central feature of festinger s 1954 original proposal concerned the implications that social comparison processes have for interpersonal interaction. Apr 08, 2017 the social comparison theory was developed by social psychologist leon festinger. In this paper we shall present a further development of a previously published theory concerning. The original work by clark and clark 1947 found that negro children preferred a white doll and rejected. Download a theory of social comparison processes leon festinger book pdf free download link or read online here in pdf. Social comparison processes in organizations sciencedirect. This paper furthers festinger s views on group influences of opinions and applies it to abilities as well. A theory of social comparison processes, retrieved september 12, 2007, from hum. A theory of social comparison processes leon festinger, 1954. While opinions and abilities may, at first glance, seem to be quite different things, there is a close functional tie between them. Comparing ourselves to people who are worse than we are on a particular trait or ability. I have no concern with any economic criticisms of the communist system.
Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. A theory of social comparison processes center for human science. At the university of minnesota, festinger developed social comparison theory, his second major contribution to social psychology. Pdf a theory of social comparison processes semantic scholar. Festinger developed social comparison theory in the heyday of group dyna mics, long before the self, attributions, heuristics, and other cognitive mechanisms captured researche rs attention. This study focused on the effect of employees social comparison. Sign in here to access free tools such as favourites and alerts, or to access. Social comparison theory assumes that people tend to evaluate their successes, failures and opinions in relation to others festinger, 1954. Social comparison theory states that individuals determine their own social and personal worth based on how they stack up against others. In line with festinger s 1954 theory, comparisons have stronger effects if they are on novel dimensions andor with localinvivo targets.
A recent test of social information processing theory showed little effect of anonymous social cues on choices of brief tasks kilduff regan, 1988. Juries, by design, free members from conformity pressures. Learn about social comparison theory, the process people go. This work is a clearly stated theory on how humans think, decide, and defend their decisions. Festinger 1954 a theory of social comparison processes. They act together in the manner in which they affect behavior. After four decades of research, the topic of social comparison is more popular than ever. Social comparison theory was first proposed in 1954 by psychologist leon festinger and suggested that people have an innate drive to evaluate themselves, often in comparison to others. Festingers theory of cognitive dissonance appears as a means to concentrate on the conflict itself. Festinger 1950 synthesized all of this work in his first theoretical paper in social psychologya seminal paper concerned with informal social communication and the process, via social comparison, of establishing the correctness of ones beliefs. We systematically analyze the role of social comparison processes in organizations. Wish, expectation and group standards as factors influencing level of.
After controlling the demographic variables, ability comparison orientation and opinion comparison orientation both had a positive effect on job performance, including task performance and contextual performance. In an early study of social comparison processes among those with a serious health problem, taylor and her colleagues focused on women recovering. A central feature of festingers 1954 original proposal concerned the implications that social comparison processes have for interpersonal interaction. Pdf a theory of social comparison processes scinapse.
Social comparison theory, initially proposed by social psychologist leon festinger in 1954, centers on the belief that there is a drive within individuals to gain accurate selfevaluations. This paper furthers festingers views on group influences of opinions and applies it to abilities as well. I cannot enquire into whether the abolition of private property is expedient or advantageous. As earlier mentioned, social comparison theory festinger, 1954 posits that individuals have a natural drive to compare their own attributes and abilities with the abilities and attributes of others. Fifty years ago, festinger 1954 published a theory of social comparison. People prefer to compare themselves to others in a close proximity such as coworkers, friends, family members, etc. People make all kinds of judgments about themselves, and one of the key ways that we do this is through social comparison, or analyzing the self in relation to. Festinger based his theory on nine hypotheses see table 4. Festinger l 1954 a theory of social comparison processes human relations 7 117.
Introspective theory was that the sign noise would lower peoples evaluation of the film they were watching and people would not realize the noise was responsible for. Motivation and emotionbook2014social comparison and. People make all kinds of judgments about themselves, and one of the key ways that we do this is through social comparison, or analyzing the self in. Social comparison theory was first proposed in 1954 by psychologist leon festinger and. According to festinger s theory of social comparison people gain selfknowledge and selfawareness by comparing themselves to others. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. Informal social communication theory was about the power of the group over the person. Many criticisms arose regarding festingers similarity hypothesis. Festingers social comparison theory psychology essay.
All books are in clear copy here, and all files are secure so dont worry about it. Wood state university of new york at stony brook social comparison theory has evolved considerably since festinger 1954 originally proposed it. This may occur with reference to a physical reality. A theory of social comparison processes show all authors. Read online a theory of social comparison processes leon festinger book pdf free download link book now. Leon festinger 8 may 1919 11 february 1989 was an american social psychologist, perhaps best known for cognitive dissonance and social comparison theory.
A persons cognition his opinions and beliefs about the situation in which he exists and his. Although festinger devoted much of his theory to interpersonal processesfor example, he proposed that the need for similar comparison with others leads to pressures toward uniformity in groupssocial comparison researchers have focused mostly on individuals and their selections of individual comparison targets. Social comparison theory in psychology verywell mind. Festinger developed social comparison theory in the heyday of group dyna mics. That is, the theory was elaborated primarily as a social one, such that the need for selfevaluation under conditions of information ambiguity leads people to.
However, in the three decades since the publication of this work, social comparison theory has evolved in several ways. During the past decade, social comparison processes have been the focus of considerable research and theorizing in social psychology. Festingers social comparison theory festingers social comparison theory is a successor of his theory of informal social communication. Claiming your author page allows you to personalize the information displayed and manage publications all current information on this profile has been aggregated automatically from publisher and metadata sources. Participants who watched the film with the annoying background noise did not like it any less than those who saw the film without the distracting noise however most reported that the noise had lowered their ratings of the film. Leon festingers social comparison theory the psychology. His first hypothesis is that in humans there exists a drive to evaluate his opinions and abilities by comparison with the opinions and abilities of others. In general, social psychologists, always looking for the next great theory, seemed to have shelved this book and its concepts within a couple of decades after it came out in 1957 see leon festinger s comments 30 years later in appendix b of cognitive dissonance progress on a pivotal theory in social. For this, we are indebted to festinger 1954, whose influential theory of social comparison introduced over a half century ago subsequently gave rise to more. Comparison of objects, events, and situations is integral to judgment. The old one states that members of a particular group would want to be parallel with each other because a uniform agreement must be made so that the group is able to come up with a common decision. Festinger l 1954 a theory of social comparison processes. His theories and research are credited with renouncing the previously dominant behaviorist view of social psychology by demonstrating the inadequacy of stimulusresponse conditioning accounts of human behavior. Theory and research concerning social comparisons of.
A theory of social comparison processes leon festinger. Social comparison research and theory, by tradition, stress individualistic. Thinking about or priming similarity before conducting a comparison lessens this effect, largely in line with current accounts. Pdf social comparison and influence in groups researchgate. Specifically, we describe how social comparison processes have been used to explain six key areas of organizational inquiry. Theory and research concerning social comparisons of personal. This site is like a library, you could find million book here by using search box in the header.
Pengaruh self esteem, social comparison, thin ideal internalization, dan rasa syukur terhadap body. Schiff1 1university of michigan and 2university of notre dame abstract social comparisonthe tendency to selfevaluate by comparing ourselves to othersis an important source of competitive behavior. Festinger 1954 proposed that social comparison was driven by a need to evaluate ourselves so that we had more information about ourselves. Abstract this study investigates the influence of antecedents of user trust amongst peers on social media platforms that they apply without sufficient cognitive judgment. Finally, although it is unlikely that the present studies can be fully accounted for by a face adaptation explanation, additional research is needed to further explore whether exposure to attractive and unattractive targets influences selfrepresentation as a function of social comparison processes, faceadaptation, or both. Leon festinger mentioned his hypotheses in his book entitled social comparison processes that gives substantial exploration of his theory. Leon festinger was a prominent american social psychologist. A lot of earlier research had impact on festinger s formulation of the social comparison theory, and these include studies on social groups, group dynamics, social communication, conformity and the autokinetic effect, compliant behavior, level of aspiration, and independence and dependence in response to unanimous majority. Social comparison activity under threat downward evaluation. Racial preference and social comparison processes, journal. A theory of cognitive dissonance leon festinger download. Sign in here to access free tools such as favourites and alerts, or to access personal subscriptions. Ensure your research is discoverable on semantic scholar. Later published as social comparison processes in organizations.
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