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. The model controlled for general social comparison to test the speci. Social comparisons, social media addiction, and social. Scale for social comparison orientation incom, iowanetherlands comparison orientation scale english version primary references. Created by health psychologist nancy adler and team 2000, the macarthur scale of subjective social status macarthur sss scale is a singleitem measure that assesses a persons perceived rank relative to others in their group. In psychology, social comparison theory is one explanation for this tendency we have to. Rate the degree to which you agree or disagree with each statement using the following scale 1 strongly disagree and 6 strongly agree.
The dimensions of social comparison measured here are derived. Both scales have acceptable internal consistency, and both yield 2 subscale scores as well as a. Festinger 1954 was the first to theorize that comparing oneself to others is a human need essential for acquiring information about the self. People compare themselves with fellow group members, they compare themselves with people in other groups, and they compare their own group with other groups. This fiveitem scale provides a measure of the tendency. Pdf social comparisons are an essential source of information about the self. Sometimes it is useful to look at the 3 items of feeling left out, different and an outsider as a measure of group fit or. Social commerce, social shopping, social comparison, social presence, enjoyment 1. The theory explains how individuals evaluate their own opinions and abilities by comparing themselves to others in order to reduce uncertainty in these.
Moreover, among people high in social comparison, comparing oneself with a downward comparable target without helping can lead to a similar level of lifesatisfaction as helping the target. The development of a scale of social comparison orientation. Body comparison scale bcs body image research group. Please be sure that you read and respond to all of the questions according to. Research in social psychology has shown individual variation in the tendency toward comparison with other peoples opinions and abilities, raising the question of whether social comparisons are driven by. Pdf social comparison, social media, and selfesteem. Wolfe state university of new york, college at geneseo snyders 1974 selfmonitoring scale exhibits a stable factor structure that does. Social comparison and selfpresentation on social media as predictors of depressive symptoms janet l. Comparison standard score 1 standard score 2 standard score difference significant difference base rate. But the above effect exists only among high social comparison individuals study 2. Research in social psychology has shown individual variation in the. The effects of body comparison tendency, motivation for social media use, and social media platform on body esteem in young women. There has, however, been little research on this putative relationship between selfmonitoring and social comparison and what does exist is often indirect.
A look at facebook and twitter abstract recent attention has focused on the tendency for social media, namely facebook and its news feed, to promote unfavorable social comparisons, or envy. A theory of social comparison processes, retrieved september 12, 2007, from hum. Understanding cognition, intergroup relations and culture pp. Physical appearance as a measure of social ranking. The effect of instagram on selfesteem and life satisfaction. Given the widespread use of snss, the purpose of the present set of studies was to examine the impact of chronic and temporary exposure to social mediabased social comparison information on selfesteem. Both the recall of parental behaviour measure and the eles correlated significantly with depression, social comparison and shame. We extend this work in a survey that looks at three main questions. Simone schneider jurgen schupp t w the social comparison scale 360 soeppapers on multidisciplinary panel data research. Persistence in this upward social comparison has been found to lead to higher levels of burnout and defeat carmona et al. Dec 25, 2014 but the above effect exists only among high social comparison individuals study 2. Description, administration, and scoring of the instrument. The role of a new scale to understand the relationship between weight and dieting claudia ferreira,1 jose pintogouveia1 and cristiana duarte1 1cineicccognitivebehavioral research centre, university of coimbra, portugal. Testing the validity, reliability, and applicability of the iowanetherlands comparison orientation measure incom on the german population.
Downward social comparison increases lifesatisfaction in. While the bulk of the previous work has examined the effects of social comparison in nonhealth contexts, there is some evidence from randomized studies to suggest that social comparison information also may impact the efficacy of health risk communications klein and weinstein 1997. Introduction social networking technologies continue to gain popularity under the media spotlight. All participants completed measures of recall of parental behaviour and depression. This paper analyzes the validity of the incom scale and discusses potentials for shortening. This study aimed to investigate the relationship among social comparison orientation, academic selfconcept asc, and social adaptation. Development and validation of a measure of individual differences in social comparison orientation the iowanetherlands comparison orientation measure incom are described. The theory explains how individuals evaluate their own opinions and abilities by comparing themselves to others in order to reduce uncertainty in these domains, and learn how to define the self. Social comparison scale this scale was developed by allan and gilbert 1995 to measure selfperceptions of social rank and relative social standing. Table 2 shows the data for the comparisons of the validated social media scales and general social media behaviors. Given the widespread use of snss, the purpose of the present set of studies was to examine the.
Saylor 3 1center for health promotion and prevention research, university of texas, school of. We therefore run a maximum likelihood factor analysis to test the robustness of our previous findings. Dissertation or thesis social media use and its impact on. Social comparison is one of the most ubiquitous features of human social life. Negative social comparison on facebook and depressive. When comparing individuals with and without mdd on their levels of social media intensity, there were no significant differences found comparing the participants on facebook, instagram, snapchat, or twitter. Social comparison takes place when individuals compare themselves with others on abilities and personal characteristics. Social comparison theory encompasses three types of appraisals.
Relations among body image satisfaction and social comparisons to either samesex peers or media models were examined in 2 studies of adolescent boys and girls. To test the empirical validity of this proposition, gibbons and buunk 1999 created an. Seeking to tap into the potentials of such technologies for ecommerce to retain existing customers and attract new ones, businesses are. Thus, the present study examined the associations among facebook use, social comparison orientation on facebook scof, and psychological outcomes represented by perceived social support and mental health. A theory of social comparison processes leon festinger. We all compare ourselves to others in our social worlds, whether it is comparing our looks to those of celebrities we see in the media or our talents to those of our coworkers. Celebrity worship social comparisonsocial media use celebrity attitude scale social comparison orientation scale. Ii earch in social mparisons are is proposition, y to engage in psychological tion measure and the instrument in e items of the study pretest. Social comparisons on facebook and contributions to selfesteem and mental health since myspace pioneered its way into cyberspace in 2003, social media have revolutionized the way people interact. Journal of personality and social psychology, 76, 129142. The effects of instagram 7 marginally positively associated with depressive symptoms, and positive social comparison was significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Personal relative deprivation, by definition, requires comparison with others smith et al. The results indicated that motivations toward social comparison were generally found to be antecedents of social shopping for fashion and social shopping contributed to product satisfaction and experience.
Downward comparison scale, and the iasmhs scale with three embedded subscales e. In this paper we shall present a further development of a previously published theory concerning opinion influence processes in social groups 7. It also explores the relationship between this social comparison scale and psychopathology. In the first study, 9th and 10th graders described their conceptions of attractiveness for same and oppositesex adolescents. Depression, and the social comparison rating scale. Comparison scale pacs developed by thompson, heinberg, and tantleff 1991. Social identity and social comparison springerlink. Following are a number of statements that reflect various ways in which we view ourselves. Sep 23, 2019 we all compare ourselves to others in our social worlds, whether it is comparing our looks to those of celebrities we see in the media or our talents to those of our coworkers. Similar to downward social comparison, it falls under the umbrella of palliative coping styles since it serves as an indirect, inactive coping strategy buunk et al. An online survey was conducted with a random sample consisting of a total of 858 undergraduates enrolled at a large u.
Downward social comparison increases lifesatisfaction in the. Mar 01, 2011 social comparisons are an essential source of information about the self. The social comparison process occurring on facebook and its impacts, however, has not been fully captured. In psychology, social comparison theory is one explanation for this tendency we have to make comparisons between ourselves and others. Using a correlational approach, study 1 examined whether frequent facebook use is associated.
Please be sure that you read and respond to all of the questions according to how you would compare yourself to your same sex peers. Research in the area of social comparison theory has shown that different comparison appraisals might be used depending on the context of the comparison. Facebook, with more than one billion members, is the. Social comparison is a pervasive and fundamental feature of group life. Social networking sites snss, such as facebook, provide abundant social comparison opportunities. Social comparisons are an essential source of information about the self. These attractiveness attributes were then used in study 2 in which 7th and 10thgrade boys and girls. The kaiser criterion as well as the catell scree test suggest the ex comparison factors figure 2, in support of our theoretical assumptions.
Jun 27, 2018 this study aimed to investigate the relationship among social comparison orientation, academic selfconcept asc, and social adaptation. Research in social psychology has shown individual variation in the tendency toward. Each scale item was measured using a 5point likert scale 1 extremely unlikely, 5 extremely likely, with higher scores indicating greater motivation for social comparison. Strictly, both the registrar generals and the sociological scales are non. Frontiers social comparison orientation and social. Social comparison and selfpresentation on social media as. A comparison of an inmate measure in england and the us michael w. Kevin thompson university of south florida a total of 1,760 females and males were assessed for cognitive social. Study 4 found maximizers more sensitive to regret and less. This is an adapted version of the selfcompassion scale designed for early adolescents ages 1014. Parental reports re social comparison twentytwo participants 11 adolescents, 11 adults were reported to. Study 3 found maximizers more adversely affected by upward social comparison. An investigation into the relationship between celebrity.
This fundamental human tendency to look to others for information about how to think, feel, and behave has provided us with the ability to thrive in a highly complex and interconnected modern social world. Psychometric properties of the social comparison motives scale. This scale uses a semantic differential methodology and consists of 11 bipolar constructs. Second, an exploration of the association between the social comparison scale and the scl90r. An investigation of body comparison processes using multidimensional scaling erik fisher university of south florida michael dunn university of central florida j. Body comparison scale bcs for the items below, use the following scale to rate how often you compare these aspects of your body to those of other individuals of the same sex. Saylor 3 1center for health promotion and prevention research, university of texas, school of public health, po box 20036, houston tx 77225, usa. Table 1 shows the final six tested dimensions and sample items for the preliminary 35item scms. Social comparison, personal relative deprivation, and. Vineland adaptive behavior scales, third edition vineland. In this paper we shall present a further development of a previously published theory concerning opinion influence processes in social. Psychometric properties and relationship to psychopathology.
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