Social comparison theory concerns the psychological processes by which individuals compare themselves to other people.
Social comparison has been a continuously active research topic in social and personality psychology since 1954. Over time, one initial theoretical article developed into a broader field with links to social cognition, individual differences, developmental psychology, and experimental social psychology. The overarching concerns are to examine how people make social comparisons, why they make them, to identify who makes comparisons, and the effects of those comparisons. This entry addresses the key historical and current issues in social comparison research, draws together research on individual differences in social comparison, and identifies links between social comparison and thinking about personhood. We finish with a brief discussion of research measures and related topics.
The initial theory of social comparison.
