Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Introduction: social comparison processes and levels of analysis
- Part 1 Cognition: comparison processes within and between individuals
- Part 2 Intergroup relations: comparison processes within and between groups
- 5 Predicting comparison choices in intergroup settings: a new look
- 6 The variable impact of upward and downward social comparisons on self-esteem: when the level of analysis matters
- 7 Attitudes toward redistributive social policies: the effects of social comparisons and policy experience
- 8 Social comparison and group-based emotions
- 9 The counter-intuitive effect of relative gratification on intergroup attitudes: ecological validity, moderators and mediators
- 10 Social comparison and the personal group discrimination discrepancy
- Part 3 Culture: comparison processes within and across cultures
- Author index
- Subject index
- References
6 - The variable impact of upward and downward social comparisons on self-esteem: when the level of analysis matters
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Introduction: social comparison processes and levels of analysis
- Part 1 Cognition: comparison processes within and between individuals
- Part 2 Intergroup relations: comparison processes within and between groups
- 5 Predicting comparison choices in intergroup settings: a new look
- 6 The variable impact of upward and downward social comparisons on self-esteem: when the level of analysis matters
- 7 Attitudes toward redistributive social policies: the effects of social comparisons and policy experience
- 8 Social comparison and group-based emotions
- 9 The counter-intuitive effect of relative gratification on intergroup attitudes: ecological validity, moderators and mediators
- 10 Social comparison and the personal group discrimination discrepancy
- Part 3 Culture: comparison processes within and across cultures
- Author index
- Subject index
- References
Summary
One of the main concerns stemming directly from research related to Festinger's theory of social comparison processes (1954) involves understanding the relations between upward comparisons, downward comparisons, and self-esteem (e.g., Blanton, 2001). Do we feel better about ourselves when we compare with more successful others (upward comparison), or when we compare with less successful others (downward comparison), and why? Given the crucial role played by self-esteem in social adaptation and cognitive functioning (e.g., Greenberg, Solomon, Pyszcynski, Rosenblatt, Burling, Lyon, Simon, and Pinel, 1992; Steele, 1988; Taylor and Brown, 1988; Tesser and Campbell, 1983), the striking determination and persistence that researchers have shown in studying this issue is readily understood (for reviews see Part One, this volume; Markman and McMullen, 2003; Mussweiler, 2003). It is much less obvious, however, why, up until quite recently, most of this research was designed without taking into consideration the level of analysis at which social comparisons occur.
Some thirty years ago, Tajfel (1972, 1974) and Turner (1975), suggested that social comparisons could take place at the individual level as in Festinger's theory, but also at the group level. Furthermore, as shown in Social Identity Theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1979), social comparisons at the group level are likely to have a significant bearing on self-esteem (see Long and Spears, 1997). Therefore, taking into account the level of analysis immediately raises new questions about the impact of social comparison on self-esteem.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Social Comparison and Social PsychologyUnderstanding Cognition, Intergroup Relations, and Culture, pp. 127 - 150Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005
References
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