Social comparison bias

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Social comparison bias is the tendency to have feelings of dislike and competitiveness with someone seen as physically, socially, or mentally better than oneself. Social comparison bias or social comparison theory is the idea that individuals determine their own worth based on how they compare to others. The theory was developed in 1954 by psychologist Leon Festinger. This can be compared to social comparison, which is believed to be central to achievement motivation, feelings of injustice, depression, jealousy, and people's willingness to remain in relationships or jobs. [1] [2] The basis of the theory is that people are believed to compete for the best outcome in relation to their peers. For example, one might make a comparison between the low-end department stores they go to frequently and the designer stores of their peers. Such comparisons may evoke feelings of resentment, anger , and envy with their peers. This bias revolves mostly around wealth and social status; it is unconscious and people who make these are largely unaware of them. [3] In most cases, people try to compare themselves to those in their peer group or with whom they are similar. [4]

Contents

Research

There are many studies revolving around social comparison and the effects it has on mental health. One study involved the relationship between depression and social comparison. [5] Thwaites and Dagnan in "Moderating variables in the relationship between social comparison and depression", investigated the relationship between social comparison and depression utilizing an evolutionary framework. They hypothesized that depression was an outcome of social comparisons that people carried out. This study investigated the moderating effects on social comparison of the importance of comparison dimensions to the person, and of the perceived importance of the dimensions to other people. What the researchers used to measure the depression in their participants was a self-esteem test called the Self Attributes Questionnaire created by Pelham and Swann in 1989. The test consisted of 10-point Likert scale ratings on 10 individual social comparison dimensions (e.g. intelligence, social skills, sense of humor). "Questions were added to explore beliefs regarding the importance of social comparison dimensions. Data was collected from a combined clinical sample and a non-clinical sample of 174 people." [5] They concluded that social comparison did have a relationship with depression based on the data that they collected. More people that contributed to social comparisons had a higher level of depression than people that rarely used social comparison. It has been shown that there are two forms of comparison as it pertains to social comparison. There is an upward comparison which relates to when we compare ourselves to others who seem better off or are better than us. In downward comparison, we tend to compare ourselves to those who are less than us may be, this creates a competitive attitude from oneself. [6]

Cognitive effects

One major symptom that can occur with social comparison bias is the mental disorder of depression. Depression is typically diagnosed during a clinical encounter using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders volume IV (DSM-IV) criteria. Symptoms include depressed mood, hopelessness, and sleep difficulties, including both hypersomnia and insomnia. [5] Clinical depression can be caused by many factors in a person's life. Major depressive disorder is a common mental illness associated with social comparison bias. [7] Depression has a biological explanation for why people lose hope in life. It is caused by the brain because of the hippocampus decreasing in size and the lowering levels of serotonin that circulate through the brain. [8] Another negative symptom that is associated with social comparison bias is suicide ideation. Suicidal ideation can be defined as the constant thoughts about suicide and suicide attempts. Suicidal ideation can occur due to social comparison bias because people that compare themselves to people that are seen as better than themselves get mentally discouraged because they believe they can not perform or look a certain way which causes low self-esteem. Low self-esteem is one of the main factors in suicidal ideation. [9] Additionally, with social comparison bias, one can experience an increased sense of anxiety. This can be anxiety due to many things such as their progress in life. This anxiety can not only manifest in the sense of being anxious to log on to social media and see posts but can then turn into social anxiety when seeing those on social media in person. This could potentially be a trigger. Specifically, as it pertains to anxiety and body image, you can be triggered easily when on social media. "A common problem with social media is the tendency for people to compare themselves to others. Social media is a place where people tend to tailor their image of themselves to only present positive things. When other people present their stories or images of success, achievement, beauty, love or happiness it can trigger feelings of inferiority." [10]

Physical/Behavioral Effects

Social comparison can lead to some partaking in harmful acts as a coping mechanism. This could, but is not limited to drug/substance abuse, self-harm (such as cutting), eating disorders (especially anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa [11] ), alcoholism, and other unhealthy coping mechanisms.

As social comparison pertains to social media comparison, one can take action steps to unfollow individuals/pages that are triggering. On the other hand, it could prove beneficial to follow more inspirational and uplifting accounts. Taking a break from social media has proven to help. [10]

In the media

Mainstream media is also a main contributor to social comparisons. [12] Taking beauty as an example, everywhere one goes advertisements try to portray to the public what beauty should be. Magazines, commercials, and billboards all show what beauty is supposed to look like. When a growing generation of youth and adults see this, they socially compare themselves to the advertisements they see all around them. [13] When they do not look a certain way or weigh a certain amount, society puts them down for it. This can cause low self-esteem and the onset of depression because they do not fit the mold of what beauty is seen to be. [12] People get criticized when they do not look like the models in the magazine or on TV. Socially comparing oneself to the people in the media can have negative effects and cause mental anxiety, stress, negative body image, and eating disorders. [14] With media being such an important part of modern Western culture, having low self-esteem and a negative self-image of oneself affects society with tragic incidents including suicide and self-harm. Social comparison to others can cause people to lose confidence in themselves and stress over trying to be perfect and be what society expects them to be. In an experiment that studied women's body image after comparing themselves to different types of models, body image was significantly more negative after viewing thin media images than after viewing images of either average-size models, or plus-size models. [14] Media is one of the leading causes of negative body image among youth and adults because of social comparison. [15] [16]

Through social media

Social media being a main source of news and breaking news stories can help people connect and learn in new ways. [14] It is easier to see people's private life on a public network. Social networks such as Facebook makes viewing someone's daily life as simple as sending a request. Society is exposed to everyone's lives and people are starting to compare themselves with their friends that they have on Facebook. It is easy to log in and see someone brag about their success or their new belongings and feel bad about themselves. In recent studies, researchers have been linking Facebook with depression in this generation of social media. [14] They may start to have low self-esteem by seeing their friends online have more exciting lives and more popularity. This social comparison bias among social network users online can make people start to think of their lives as not as fulfilling as they want to be. They see pictures or statuses about job promotions or new jobs, vacations; new relationships, fun outings, or even those that can afford nice things. This can cognitively affect people's self-esteem and is recognized as a possible factor in depressive disorders. [17] They can start to feel bad about their appearance and their life in general. Social media influences the number of social comparisons people have. [18] One study found that the more time users spend on Facebook each week, the more likely they are to think that others were happier and having better lives than themselves. [19]

Social comparison bias in the Classroom

Social comparisons are also relevant in the school system. Students depending on their grade level can be competitive about the grades they receive compared to their peers. Social comparisons not only influence students' self-concepts but also improve their performance. [20] This social comparison process leads to a lower self-concept when the class level is high and to a higher self-concept when the class level is low. [20] Therefore, two students with equal performance in a domain may develop different self-concepts when they belong to different classes with different performance levels. [13] Social comparisons are important and valid predictors of students' self-evaluations and achievement behavior. Students may feel jealousy or competitiveness when it comes to grades and getting into better colleges and universities than their peers. Social comparison can also motivate students to do well because they want to keep along with their peers.

Conclusion

Social comparison bias can occur in people's everyday life. Whether it is on social networking sites, in the media, in society regarding wealth and social status, or in the school system, it can be harmful to one's mental health due to the increasing risks of depression, suicidal ideation, and other mental disorders. [21] Social comparison in this generation is everywhere and society revolves around comparing themselves to one another if it is to have a higher self-esteem or to try and better themselves as a whole. With this importance, it will lead to social comparison bias and cause negative effects on a person's life. Based on the research found, the hypothesis was proven correct stating that depression does have a relationship with the social comparison that people in society participate in.

See also

Related Research Articles

Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth, abilities, or morals. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie define it by saying "The self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, is the positive or negative evaluations of the self, as in how we feel about it ."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Body dysmorphic disorder</span> Mental disorder

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), also known in some contexts as dysmorphophobia, is a mental disorder defined by an overwhelming preoccupation with a perceived flaw in one's physical appearance. In BDD's delusional variant, the flaw is imagined. When an actual visible difference exists, its importance is disproportionately magnified in the mind of the individual. Whether the physical issue is real or imagined, ruminations concerning this perceived defect become pervasive and intrusive, consuming substantial mental bandwidth for extended periods each day. This excessive preoccupation not only induces severe emotional distress but also disrupts daily functioning and activities. The DSM-5 places BDD within the obsessive–compulsive spectrum, distinguishing it from disorders such as anorexia nervosa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Body image</span> Aesthetic perception of ones own body

Body image is a person's thoughts, feelings and perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of their own body. The concept of body image is used in several disciplines, including neuroscience, psychology, medicine, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, philosophy, cultural and feminist studies; the media also often uses the term. Across these disciplines, there is no single consensus definition, but broadly speaking, body image consists of the ways people view themselves; their memories, experiences, assumptions, and comparisons about their appearances; and their overall attitudes towards their respective heights, shapes, and weights—all of which are shaped by prevalent social and cultural ideals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social skills</span> Competence facilitating interaction and communication with others

A social skill is any competence facilitating interaction and communication with others where social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning these skills is called socialization. Lack of such skills can cause social awkwardness.

Disordered eating describes a variety of abnormal eating behaviors that, by themselves, do not warrant diagnosis of an eating disorder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perfectionism (psychology)</span> Personality trait

Perfectionism, in psychology, is a broad personality trait characterized by a person's concern with striving for flawlessness and perfection and is accompanied by critical self-evaluations and concerns regarding others' evaluations. It is best conceptualized as a multidimensional and multilayered personality characteristic, and initially some psychologists thought that there were many positive and negative aspects.

Depressive realism is the hypothesis developed by Lauren Alloy and Lyn Yvonne Abramson that depressed individuals make more realistic inferences than non-depressed individuals. Although depressed individuals are thought to have a negative cognitive bias that results in recurrent, negative automatic thoughts, maladaptive behaviors, and dysfunctional world beliefs, depressive realism argues not only that this negativity may reflect a more accurate appraisal of the world but also that non-depressed individuals' appraisals are positively biased.

Impostor syndrome, also known as impostor phenomenon or impostorism, is a psychological occurrence. Those who have it may doubt their skills, talents, or accomplishments. They may have a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as frauds. Despite external evidence of their competence, those experiencing this phenomenon do not believe they deserve their success or luck. They may think that they are deceiving others because they feel as if they are not as intelligent as they outwardly portray themselves to be.

Social comparison theory, initially proposed by social psychologist Leon Festinger in 1954, centers on the belief that individuals drive to gain accurate self-evaluations. The theory explains how individuals evaluate their opinions and abilities by comparing themselves to others to reduce uncertainty in these domains and learn how to define the self. Comparing oneself to others socially is a form of measurement and self-assessment to identify where an individual stands according to their own set of standards and emotions about themselves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social rejection</span> Deliberate exclusion of an individual from social relationship or social interaction

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suicidal ideation</span> Thoughts, ideas, or ruminations about the possibility of ending ones life

Suicidal ideation, or suicidal thoughts, is the thought process of having ideas, or ruminations about the possibility of completing suicide. It is not a diagnosis but is a symptom of some mental disorders, use of certain psychoactive drugs, and can also occur in response to adverse life events without the presence of a mental disorder.

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Implicit cognition refers to cognitive processes that occur outside conscious awareness or conscious control. This includes domains such as learning, perception, or memory which may influence a person's behavior without their conscious awareness of those influences.

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In social psychology, illusory superiority is a cognitive bias wherein people overestimate their own qualities and abilities compared to others. Illusory superiority is one of many positive illusions, relating to the self, that are evident in the study of intelligence, the effective performance of tasks and tests, and the possession of desirable personal characteristics and personality traits. Overestimation of abilities compared to an objective measure is known as the overconfidence effect.

Experts from many different fields have conducted research and held debates about how using social media affects mental health. Research suggests that mental health issues arising from social media use affect women more than men and vary according to the particular social media platform used, although it does affect every age and gender demographic in different ways. Psychological or behavioural dependence on social media platforms can result in significant negative functions in individuals' daily lives. Studies show there are several negative effects that social media can have on individuals' mental health and overall well-being. While researchers have attempted to examine why and how social media is problematic, they still struggle to develop evidence-based recommendations on how they would go about offering potential solutions to this issue. Because social media is constantly evolving, researchers also struggle with whether the disorder of problematic social media use would be considered a separate clinical entity or a manifestation of underlying psychiatric disorders. These disorders can be diagnosed when an individual engages in online content/conversations rather than pursuing other interests.

Social media began in the form of generalized online communities. These online communities formed on websites like Geocities.com in 1994, Theglobe.com in 1995, and Tripod.com in 1995. Many of these early communities focused on social interaction by bringing people together through the use of chat rooms. The chat rooms encouraged users to share personal information, ideas, or even personal web pages. Later the social networking community Classmates took a different approach by simply having people link to each other by using their personal email addresses. By the late 1990s, social networking websites began to develop more advanced features to help users find and manage friends. These newer generation of social networking websites began to flourish with the emergence of SixDegrees.com in 1997, Makeoutclub in 2000, Hub Culture in 2002, and Friendster in 2002. However, the first profitable mass social networking website was the South Korean service, Cyworld. Cyworld initially launched as a blog-based website in 1999 and social networking features were added to the website in 2001. Other social networking websites emerged like Myspace in 2002, LinkedIn in 2003, and Bebo in 2005. In 2009, the social networking website Facebook became the largest social networking website in the world. Active users of Facebook increased from just a million in 2004 to over 750 million by the year 2011. Making internet-based social networking both a cultural and financial phenomenon.

Race-based traumatic stress is the traumatic response to stress following a racial encounter. Robert T. Carter's (2007) theory of race-based traumatic stress implies that there are individuals of color who experience racial discrimination as traumatic, and often generate responses similar to post-traumatic stress. Race-based traumatic stress combines theories of stress, trauma and race-based discrimination to describe a particular response to negative racial encounters.

The false-uniqueness effect is an attributional type of cognitive bias in social psychology that describes how people tend to view their qualities, traits, and personal attributes as unique when in reality they are not. This bias is often measured by looking at the difference between estimates that people make about how many of their peers share a certain trait or behaviour and the actual number of peers who report these traits and behaviours.

References

  1. ↑ Buunk & Gibbons 1997.
  2. ↑ Suls & Wheeler 2000.
  3. ↑ Smith & Leach 2004, pp. 297–308.
  4. ↑ Taylor & Lobel 1989, pp. 569–575.
  5. 1 2 3 Thwaites & Dagnan 2004, pp. 309–323.
  6. ↑ "Social Comparison: An Unavoidable Upward Or Downward Spiral". PositivePsychology.com. 2016-04-30. Archived from the original on 2020-05-13. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  7. ↑ Pyszczynski & Greenberg 1987, pp. 122–138.
  8. ↑ Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow 1993, pp. 561–570.
  9. ↑ Garcia, Song & Tesser 2010, pp. 97–101.
  10. 1 2 "Triggers in Social Media". Seasons In Malibu. 2017-07-22. Archived from the original on 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  11. ↑ Blechert, Jens; Nickert, Till; Caffier, Detlef; Tuschen-Caffier, Brunna (October 2009). "Social Comparison and Its Relation to Body Dissatisfaction in Bulimia Nervosa: Evidence From Eye Movements". Psychosomatic Medicine. 71 (8): 907–912. doi:10.1097/PSY.0b013e3181b4434d. ISSN   0033-3174. PMID   19661192. S2CID   31290938.
  12. 1 2 Richins 1991, pp. 73–81.
  13. 1 2 Wood 1989.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Kaplan & Haenlein 2010, pp. 59–68.
  15. ↑ Menon, Kyung & Agrawal 2008, pp. 39–52.
  16. ↑ John, Alex. "Social Media Service" . Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  17. ↑ Pappas 2012.
  18. ↑ Kendler & Karkowski-Shuman 1997, pp. 539–547.
  19. ↑ Hui-Tzu Grace Chou; Nicholas Edge (February 2012). ""They Are Happier and Having Better Lives than I Am": The Impact of Using Facebook on Perceptions of Others' Lives". Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. 15 (2): 117–121. doi:10.1089/cyber.2011.0324. PMID   22165917. S2CID   10845517 .
  20. 1 2 Möller & Husemann 2006.
  21. ↑ Kendler 1995, pp. 5–9.

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