Social Comparison Theory

Social comparison is something we do everyday whether we like it or not.  It is something we are just hard-wired for and it seems like it is a very hard thing not to engage in.  We do it on a subconscious level all day long.  Here is social comparison theory in a nutshell.  It is the way we evaluate ourselves in comparison to others.  It can cause us to have a good self-concept if we choose to do a downward comparison...with those that aren't as good looking, or as smart as, or as rich as, we are.  Or it can cause us to feel extremely bad about ourselves if we do an upward comparison...with those that are movie stars, thinner or more muscular, or better off than us.  It is how we even know about ourselves by comparing our self with others.  Social comparison can make us feel better or it can make us feel worse depending on our comparison.  We tend to always look and judge yourself in relation to others.  But social comparison can have negative effects.  It causes us to always be unsatisfied in life.  It also leads us to do buy things so that others will think we are doing better than we actually are.  For instance, the house that we couldn't afford, the car we can't afford, the clothes we can't afford, the memberships, the clubs, the gifts, and on and on it goes.  For many women it leads them into unnecessary surgeries.  And if you think about it all; it turns into this never-ending circle that we all engage in.  But the more each one plays into it the more it continues on.  Because everyone just upped the anty.