Social Comparison
Social Comparison
Social comparison is the natural psychological process of evaluating yourself by comparing your abilities, opinions, and circumstances to those of others.
Details
Social Comparison Theory was proposed by Leon Festinger, suggesting that people naturally compare themselves to others in order to evaluate themselves.
There are two main types: upward comparison (comparing yourself to someone who performs better) and downward comparison (comparing yourself to someone who performs worse).
Appropriate social comparison can aid motivation and self-evaluation, but excessive comparison can lead to decreased self-esteem and feelings of unhappiness.
Social media in particular can encourage biased comparisons, so it is important to be mindful of this. Focusing on your own personal growth is the healthier approach.
Mindy says: Try shifting your focus from comparing yourself to others to comparing today's you with yesterday's you. That small change can make a big difference in how you feel about yourself.
💡 Real-Life Example
Scrolling through social media and seeing other people's glamorous daily lives, then feeling like your own life is dull or inadequate — this is the effect of social comparison.
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This content is for educational purposes and does not replace professional medical diagnosis.