Apr 08, 2017 the social comparison theory was developed by social psychologist leon festinger. At the university of minnesota, festinger developed social comparison theory, his second major contribution to social psychology. Read online a theory of social comparison processes leon festinger book pdf free download link book now. More recently, an enlightment of social comparison theory seems to occur in which an integrative.
A theory of social comparison processes leon festinger pdf. Wood state university of new york at stony brook social comparison theory has evolved considerably since festinger 1954 originally proposed it. Social comparison theory, based on ones drive for selfevaluation, was first coined by leon festinger 1954. X harvard university 124 mount auburn street, suite 520n, cambridge, ma 028 this work is licensed under a creative commons attribution 3. Festinger l 1954 a theory of social comparison processes. As we discussed earlier, compensation committees play an important role in setting executive compensation, and compensation committees often include ceos from other organizations of equal or greater stature. A recent renaissance in social comparison theory is described in which links were established with social comparison work from before festingers classic paper, and in which various new methods and theoretical models were developed.
People tend to compete with those with similar st slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. Source for information on social comparison processes. When psychologists think of social comparison theory, they initially recall leon festingers classic paper on a theory of social comparison processes. In line with festinger s 1954 theory, comparisons have stronger effects if they are on novel dimensions andor with localinvivo targets. One of the last times leon festinger saw his father was in a nursing home in brooklyn. Social comparison theory and drive for self evaluation. The basic premise of the theory of social comparison processes is that one has a drive to evaluate his opinions and his abilities festinger, 1954, p.
In an early study of social comparison processes among those with a serious health problem, taylor and her colleagues focused on women recovering. Social comparison processes and unethical behavior in organizations by jooa julia lee and francesca gino edmond j. 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. A theory of social comparison processes leon festinger, 1954. The work also examined many indicators of publication bias, none of which suggested any revision to the underlying results. Abstract we systematically analyze the role of social comparison processes in organizations.
Leon festinger mentioned his hypotheses in his book entitled social comparison processes that gives substantial exploration of his theory. Festingers social comparison theory festingers social comparison theory is a successor of his theory of. Social comparison theory greenwood major reference. Pdf a theory of social comparison processes semantic.
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. His first hypothesis states that there exist, in the human organism, a drive to evaluate his opinions and abilities. Early research in social psychology on level of aspiration and on reference groups contributed to leon festingers social comparison theory, which he proposed in 1954. 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. A persons cognition his opinions and beliefs about the situation in which he exists and his. There exists, in the human organism, a drive to evaluate his opinions and his abilities. This paper furthers festingers views on group influences of opinions and applies it to abilities as well. Persistence in this upward social comparison has been found to lead to higher levels of burnout and defeat carmona et al. Researchers have applied social comparison theory to explain the processes for setting executive compensation oreilly et al. The original formulation of social comparison theory festinger 1954 demonstrated how, in the absence of objective standards, individuals use other people to fulfill their informational needs to evaluate their own opinions and abilities. The theory explains how individuals evaluate their own opinions and abilities by comparing themselves to others in order to reduce uncertainty in these. Festingers 1954a, b hypothesis that to the extent that objective, nonsocial means are not available, people evaluate their opinions and abilities by comparison respectively with the opinions and abilities of others. Many criticisms arose regarding festingers similarity hypothesis.
A theory of social comparison processes leon festinger. This may occur with reference to a physical reality. Aug 31, 2000 comparison of objects, events, and situations is integral to judgment. Specifically, we describe how social comparison processes have been used to explain six key areas of. In his brief history of the field from 1950 to the early 1980s, wheeler 1991 observed that social comparison theory has a most peculiar history. Social comparison theory assumes that people tend to evaluate their successes, failures and opinions in relation to others festinger, 1954. Festingers social comparison theory psychology essay. New directions in social comparison research buunk 2001. Motivation and emotionbook2014social comparison and. Leon festingers social comparison theory the psychology. They act together in the manner in which they affect behavior. Later published as social comparison processes in organizations. Jun 11, 2017 leon festinger mentioned his hypotheses in his book entitled social comparison processes that gives substantial exploration of his theory. After four decades of research, the topic of social comparison is more popular than ever.
Theory and research concerning social comparisons of personal. Theory and research concerning social comparisons of personal attributes joanne v. A selective history of classic and neosocial comparison theory. Nov 22, 20 leon festinger social comparison theory people need to compare their abilities against those of others. 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. In 1951 festinger moved to a tenuretrack position at the university of minnesota, where schachter was already on the faculty. Social comparison theory encompasses a rich and complex array of interpersonal motivations, processes, and outcomes. Social comparison theory an overview sciencedirect topics.
However, in the three decades since the publication of this work, social comparison theory has evolved in several ways. 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. 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. Social comparison research and theory, by tradition. This paper furthers festinger s views on group influences of opinions and applies it to abilities as well. In this paper we shall present a further development of a previously published theory concerning opinion influence processes in social groups 7.
A selective history of classic and neosocial comparison. If you have access to a journal via a society or association membership, please browse to your society journal, select an article to view, and follow the instructions in this box. 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. 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.
Festinger argued that humans have a drive to evaluate their opinions and abilities. This chapter is a reminder of social comparison theory s foundations in group processes rather than an extension of social comparison to groups. In particular, the theory posits that, when evaluating, individuals prefer to make it accurate by using objective standards or information. This is known as the principle of cognitive consistency. Both before and after festinger s original set of propositions about our drive to evaluate the self in comparison to similar others, many other theorists have provided nuances and updates. A theory of social comparison processes, retrieved september 12, 2007, from hum.
Leon festinger 8 may 1919 11 february 1989 was an american social psychologist, perhaps best known for cognitive dissonance and social comparison theory. 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 experiment in social communication festinger, leon on. Informal social communication theory was about the power of the group over the person. Festinger s 1957 cognitive dissonance theory suggests that we have an inner drive to hold all our attitudes and behavior in harmony and avoid disharmony or dissonance. In this paper we shall present a further development of a previously published theory concerning. Access to society journal content varies across our titles. All books are in clear copy here, and all files are secure so dont worry about it. While opinions and abilities may, at first glance, seem to be quite different things, there is a close functional tie between them. Download a theory of social comparison processes leon festinger book pdf free download link or read online here in pdf. 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. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 102, 2241.
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