Motivation and emotion/Book/2021/Social comparison and emotion

Social comparison and emotion:
What emotions result from social comparisons and how can they be managed?

Overview

Case study:

Kelly has a tendency to compare her abilities and appearance to others. Sometimes she compares herself to people who are perceived as 'better' than herself, while other times she compares herself to people who are perceived as 'worse' than herself. These different comparisons tend to arouse different emotions in Kelly and can cause her to respond with different emotional coping strategies. However, she does not know why her emotions differ, why they cause her to respond differently or how to manage these strong emotions.

People comparing themselves with others occurs universally across cultures (Steinbeis & Singer, 2013). These comparisons can range from personal characteristics, such as physical appearances (see Figure 1) and skills, to possessions, such as homes and vehicles. There are various reasons as to why people compare themselves to others; for example, one common reason is so that people can evaluate themselves as either being above or below standard (Steinbeis & Singer, 2013). However, comparing oneself to others can significantly influence how positively or negatively someone feels about themselves. These emotions can serve as a factor for people to motivate themselves but it can also cause maladaptive emotional coping strategies to arise. Therefore, identifying these emotions and understanding strategies on how to manage them is essential to enable people to develop and maintain healthy relationships with themselves and others (Serrat, 2017).

This chapter explores and address:

The theoretical development of social comparisons
The emotions elicited from social comparisons
The effects of emotions from social comparisons
How emotions can be managed

Theoretical development of social comparison

The term social comparison was introduced in 1954 by social psychologist, Leon Festinger, and his original theory proposed that people tend to seek an accurate understanding and sense of oneself by comparing themselves with others (Buunk & Musseiler, 2001). Since Festinger's 1954 paper, several of his hypotheses and original work on social comparisons have undergone many developments and expansions. One of the most significant developments was understanding the motivations behind social comparisons, which include the need for self-evaluation and self-enhancement. Self-evaluation is the tendency for people to compare themselves with others who are similar to themselves; this is to help ensure accuracy when self-evaluating (Pomery et al., 2012). Self-enhancement is the tendency for people to enhance their self-esteem (Pomery et al., 2012). However, contrary to self-evaluation, when engaging in self-enhancement, people do not always compare themselves to others who are perceived as similar to themselves; they may decide to make either upward or downward social comparisons.

Upward social comparison

There are two key comparisons which exist in social comparison, one of which is the upward drive theory. This theory was proposed by Festinger and suggested that people have a preference to compare themselves with others who are perceived to be better than themselves (Buunk & Musseiler, 2001). However, this original assumption was challenged by Peggy Brickman and Ronnie Janoff-Bulman in 1977, who argued that comparisons with others who are considered to be better can also be viewed as threatening (Buunk & Musseiler, 2001). As a result, these comparisons are actually avoided by people, and individuals will seek those who are perceived as ‘worse off’.

Downward social comparison

The argument put forth by Brickman and Janoff-Bulman was further expanded into the downward drive theory by Thomas Wills in 1981, the second key comparison in social comparison (Buunk & Musseiler, 2001). Wills proposed that people will compare themselves to others who are considered to be ‘worse off’ than they are, to enhance their own wellbeing. Downward comparisons are also considered to be an emotional coping technique used when people feel threatened and there is no direct way to deal with the situation (Pomery et al., 2012). However, this technique is only a short-term coping strategy.

Quiz 1:

What is an upward social comparison?

Answer
The preference to compare oneself to those perceived as 'better'

What is a downward social comparison?

Answer
The preference to compare oneself to those perceived as 'worse'

Emotions

There is no singular, preferred or commonly agreed upon definition of emotion, as researchers who study this phenomenon generate various different responses. However, emotions can be described as a conscious mental reaction; they are strong, subjectively experienced feelings directed toward specific objects and are usually accompanied by physiological and behavioural bodily changes (Mulligan & Scherer, 2012).

Research suggests that emotions differ based on the direction of a comparison - upward or downward (Tsay-Voguel & Krakowiak, 2019). However, pleasant or unpleasant emotions arise depending on whether an assimilative or contrasting process occurs. These processes occurring are determined by whether a person feels they are similar to their target comparison and whether the domain of interest is attainable (Tsay-Voguel & Krakowiak, 2019). These processes can be categorised into four different types (see Figure 2) and each lead to either a desirable or undesirable outcome. An upward assimilative and downward contrastive process leads to a desirable outcome, while upward contrastive and downward assimilative processes lead to undesirable outcome.

Desirable emotions from social comparisons

An upward assimilative process occurs when a person admires a target who is perceived as superior (Tsay-Voguel & Krakowiak, 2019). That person also believes that they are similar to their target comparison. This process tends to arise when a target’s accomplishments encourage oneself to increase one’s own expectations, confidence or self-efficacy, and the most common emotions associated with this process usually encompass feelings of optimism, admiration and inspiration (see table 1).

Table 1.

Example of upward assimilative emotions


Emotions	Description
Optimism	Optimism is an emotion that arises when a positive outcome is established through a comparison, and that outcome is within reach. For example, if a person diagnosed with cancer discovers that another person (who is in similar health) has overcome the disease, this may elicit an optimistic reaction.
Admiration	Feelings of admiration occur when a likeable person performs an action that attracts one’s attention. This action usually arouses a sense of pleasure and wonder which creates admiration and hope to emulate (Smith, 2000).
Inspiration	Feelings of inspiration arise when the impressive actions of another enhance the expectations of one’s own abilities to achieve the same outcome. It is the example of another that provide the framework for others to achieve the same outcome. For example, a cancer patient may feel hopeful about the likelihood of their future, as a patient in remission has provided inspiring, healthy, coping behaviours for one to emulate (Smith, 2000).

A downward contrastive process occurs when a person holds minimal regard for their comparison target and believes they do not resemble their target (Tsay-Voguel & Krakowiak, 2019). They tend to view their target as inferior and therefore they become motivated to engage in these downward comparisons to elevate their self-esteem. The emotions affiliated with this process usually encompass feelings of pride, contempt and schadenfreude (see table 2).

Table 2.

Example of downward contrastive emotions


Emotion	Description
Pride	Pride is the best term to characterise the positive feelings that arise from comparisons. Feelings of pride develop when another’s disadvantages help establish one’s feeling of superiority; however, there is little pleasure elicited from the misfortunes of the other (Smith, 2000).
Contempt	Contempt is a feeling towards someone that one considers beneath consideration. This feeling is deserved due to the actions performed by the other person, and usually arises from the dislike one may feel towards the other.
Schadenfreude	Schadenfreude is an emotion that expresses pleasure at the misfortunes of another (Smith, 2000). It is a complex emotion as it encompasses the satisfaction of recognising one’s superiority and the inferiority of the other person.

Undesirable emotions from social comparisons

An upward contrastive process occurs when a person admires a superior target whom they believe cannot be emulated (Tsay-Voguel & Krakowiak, 2019). This process tends to elicit feelings of sadness and jealousy as it highlights what the self lacks in comparison to others. This process impacts one’s self concept as it produces states of vulnerability and hopelessness. Therefore, the most common emotions elicited from this process encompass feelings of depression, shame, resentment and envy (see table 3).

Table 3.

Example of upward contrastive emotions


Emotion	Description
Depression	Depression is an emotional reaction most common in self-focused people, whose thoughts and feelings react negatively to failure. Therefore, this emotion arises when the advantages of others stimulate a feeling of inferiority.
Shame	Shame is another self-focused emotion as it occurs from the perceived diminishment of the self in the eyes of those who are considered significant (Smith, 2000).
Resentment	Resentment is a common emotion associated with a person’s perceived loss of control. It is an emotion composed of anger that results from the perception that the advantages of another are undeserved or unfair.
Envy	Envy is a complex emotion, as it encompasses what the self lacks and what another person possesses (Smith, 2000).

A downward assimilative process occurs when a person views an inferior target comparison as similar to themselves (Tsay-Voguel & Krakowiak, 2019). This downward comparison arises when there is a concern that oneself may become disadvantaged like one’s target comparison. However, this process also encompasses feelings of concern for the target and their situation. Therefore, this process elicits a mixture of emotions such as worry, fear, pity and sympathy (see table 4).

Table 4.

Example of downward assimilative emotions


Emotions	Description
Worry & Fear	Worry and fear are anxiety emotions which arise from the apprehension that an undesirable event may occur. For example, a person who has similar key qualities to oneself, experiences a negative outcome, therefore making the prospect of a negative outcome occurring to oneself more probable.
Pity	Pity is a feeling of sorrow that occurs from the misfortune of others, especially if this misfortune happens to someone who is liked and appears unjust (Smith, 2000).
Sympathy	Sympathy is another complex emotion that encompasses similar feelings to worry, fear and pity. However, sympathy encompasses oneself believing that they have a clear similarity between themselves and the other person. Therefore, one may share the feeling of misfortune with another.

Quiz 2:

Which two processes lead to a desirable outcome?

Answer
An upward assimilative process and a downward contrastive process

Which two processes lead to an undesirable outcome?

Answer
An upward contrastive process and a downward assimilative process

The effects of emotions from social comparisons

Understanding the emotions that are elicited from social comparisons is essential as emotions motivate human behaviours. Thus far, initial research on social comparison theories focused on only the negative outcomes to upward social comparisons and the positive outcomes to downward social comparisons. However, a further distinct development indicated that upward and downward comparisons can result in both positive and negative emotional effects (Smith, 2000).

Positive effects of upward social comparisons

One particular area of interest is how social comparisons are used by patients who are experiencing serious health problems as possible coping strategies. For example, a study conducted by Bennenbroek et al. (2002) aimed to investigate whether cancer patients preferred to seek out upward or downward comparisons. Their results found that when patients made a negative evaluation of their health, i.e., high level of depressive symptoms, there was a greater need and preference for upward social comparisons. This was due to the feeling of inspiration that was evoked, which then motivated the patients to source information that could help them learn and improve their current condition. Seeking information from others who are coping better, or who have overcome their health problems, produced a positive effect, encouraging them to learn more about other patients, their experience with the same health issue and how they dealt with the illness and its treatments (Bennenbroek et al., 2002).

Negative effects of downward social comparisons

Social comparisons can be used to help produce positive effects; however, they can also produce negative effects. In particular, the emotional distress that can arise from downward social comparisons can result in maladaptive emotional coping strategies. Research has suggested that downward comparisons occur when people use social media to temporarily enhance their self-esteem; however, engaging in these short-term strategies can also cause people to devalue others to produce this self-enhancement (Pomery et al., 2012). For example, a study conducted by Howard et al. (2019) aimed to investigate the psychosocial predictors that lead to online social media trolling. Their study consisted of university students aged 18 or older, who used a social media application. Their results found that downward comparisons could predict social media trolling, as trolls were more likely to compare themselves to others who were 'worse off' and consequently engaged in trolling behaviours to enhance their self-esteem. However, a limitation of this study was that the participants for this study consisted of university students, which could affect the generalisability of their findings to other ages and educational levels.

Emotional intelligence

Social comparisons can occur as a maladaptive emotional coping strategy and inadequately managing our emotions through these techniques have been shown to produce strong negative effects upon ourselves and others. Therefore, it is important that other strategies are found to help identify, process and manage our emotions. Emotional intelligence (EI) is one alternative strategy and was defined in the early 1990s by Peter Salovey and John Mayer as the ability for people to understand their own and other people’s emotions and the ability to regulate these emotions to promote intellectual growth (Serrat, 2017). This approach is significant as people with high EI have the ability to identify and manage their emotions to withstand situational threats and maintain happy, resilient and optimistic outlooks to repair a distressed mood (see Figure 3). It also enables people to maintain higher levels of self-esteem and self-worth (Serrat, 2017).

Emotional intelligence model

Salovey and Mayer developed a model of EI which encompassed four skills:

Perception: The perception skill refers to the capability for people to become self-aware of their emotions and the ability to express their emotions accurately to others (Jordan & Troth, 2004).
Assimilation: The assimilation skill refers to the ability for people to capitalise on their changing emotions to help them focus, think, problem solve and understand why certain feelings are being felt (Jordan & Troth, 2004).
Understanding: The understanding skill refers to the ability for people to recognise, describe and differentiate between emotions and emotional language (Jordan & Troth, 2004).
Management: The management skill refers to the ability for people to regulate their emotions in themselves and in others. This ability allows people to connect or disconnect to both their positive and negative emotions depending on how useful they are in a certain situation (Jordan & Troth, 2004).

Quiz 3

What is emotional intelligence?

Answer
The ability to understand and regulate the emotions in yourself and others

Approaches to enhance emotional intelligence

People vary in their ability to process and regulate their emotions; however, EI skills can be learnt and enhanced for people who may not be naturally inclined to understand emotional processes. For EI to be developed, people must be personally motivated; they must receive feedback and they must be given enough time to practice what they have learnt to reinforce their newly learnt skills (Serrat, 2017). There have been multiple studies conducted amongst different occupations and through various programmes or interventions to investigate the enhancement of EI amongst people and three possible approaches will be discussed in this section.

Coaching skills

One approach which was found to increase EI was through long-term training in coaching skills. This was investigated by Grant (2007), who compared the effects of two coaching skills training programmes on EI; coaching behaviours were specifically targeted as they are partly a manifestation of a person's EI. One programme was a 13-week programme, while the other was a two-day training course, and to determine whether EI levels increased participants completed the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS) before and after each programme; this self-report measure was based on Mayer and Salovey’s EI model (Grant, 2007). The 13-week programme focused on theoretical and applied components. The theoretical components included seminars on theories of communication and solution-focused coaching skills, whereas the applied components included practising coaching and communication skills, while receiving feedback on their progress. The two-day training course consisted of the same content; however, the material was condensed to fit the two-day limit. The results found that the 13-week programme was more effective in enhancing EI, with the mean SEIS scores significantly increasing amongst the participants following this programme. This study demonstrated that EI could be enhanced through long term training and by focusing on specific behaviours related to EI (Grant, 2007). However, the data gathered from this study was collected from self-reported measures, which could impact the level of confidence in their findings.

Leadership development

A second approach which was found to increase EI was through leadership development programs. This was investigated by Buckley et al. (2020) whose objective was to evaluate the impact of a longitudinal leadership development program on EI. These two concepts were explored as a result of the success EI skills are believed to provide leaders (Buckley et al., 2020). The program included three different cohorts of Doctors of Pharmacy students and ran for six academic quarters, with the program consisting of group discussions which were then followed by reflective writing, where the participants received feedback from their mentors. The results found that the program positively impacted the EI of the participants, specifically the social-awareness, self-awareness and self management of their emotions. These findings were determined by comparing each cohort’s final EI appraisal score to their initial scores that were recorded before the programme. However, a limitation of this study was that the study consisted of students from a single college of pharmacy which could impact the generalisability of their findings.

Teaching interventions

A third option to increase EI is through teaching interventions. This was investigated by Pool and Qualter (2012) and their study consisted of 134 students who were either in an intervention group or a control group. The teaching intervention ran for 11-weeks as the researchers believed that longer teaching periods were needed in order for the participants to develop their emotional abilities. Those in the intervention group were required to attend classes designed around Mayer and Salovey’s EI model. The classes included mini-lectures, case studies, group tasks, role plays and group discussions. The Mayer-Salovery-Caruso EI Test (MSCEIT) was also completed by the participants pre and post intervention to determine whether EI levels increased. Their results found that EI ability, specifically understanding and managing emotions, positively changed amongst the participants within the intervention group, as seen by their MSCEIT scores post intervention (Pool & Qualter, 2012). Overall, this study demonstrated that EI knowledge and skills could be enhanced through theory and practise. However, a limitation of this study was that the data was also collected from self-reports, which could impact the level of confidence in their findings.

Case study:

Kelly has a tendency to compare her abilities and appearance to others. She now understands that she tends to make either an upward comparison or a downward comparison. These different comparisons tend to arouse different emotions in Kelly, and she now understands that these differing emotions arise based on the direction of the comparison she is making but also whether an assimilative or contrasting process is occurring. These differing emotions can also sometimes cause Kelly to respond with maladaptive emotional coping strategies. Therefore, Kelly decided to enhance her emotional intelligence by participating in different theory and practice-based programmes/interventions. Consequently, through long practice, Kelly has been able to identify her emotions, understand them and manage them more effectively.

Conclusion

This book chapter explored and addreseds what emotions result from social comparisons and how emotions can be managed. Social comparisons can be divided into two key categories, upward and downward comparisons, and these two comparison directions can elicit a range of emotions. These emotions can be divided into four processes depending on who is the perceived target and how similar one believes one is to the target comparison. Understanding the emotions elicited from social comparisons is essential as they can produce positive, but also maladaptive emotional coping strategies, which can cause harm to ourselves and others. Therefore, it was necessary to understand techniques that could help us improve our EI. EI can be enhanced through different long-term strategies which use theory and practice, as it can help people to understand and manage their emotions better. However, these studies were not without their limitations, specifically regarding the lack of generalisability and accuracy from self-reported findings. Therefore, it is recommended that future research should conduct follow-up studies using a more diverse range of participants while also using more objective measures, such as peer ratings of EI pre- and post-programmes/interventions, to increase the confidence in their findings.

References

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Buckley, K., Bowman, B., Raney, E., Afolabi, T., Fettkether, R. M., Larson, S., Tennant, S., & Goodlet, K. J. (2020). Enhancing the emotional intelligence of student leaders within an accelerated pharmacy program. American Journal of pharmaceutical Education, 84(11), 8056. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe8056

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Grant, A. M. (2007). Enhancing coaching skills and emotional intelligence through training. Industrial and Commercial Training, 39(5), 257-266. https://doi.org/10.1108/00197850710761945

Howard, K., Zolnierek, K. H., Critz, K., Dailey, S., & Ceballos, N. (2019). An examination of psychological factors associated with malicious online trolling behaviours. Personality and Individual Differences, 149, 309-314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.06.020

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Mulligan, K., & Scherer, K. R. (2012). Toward a working definition of emotion. Emotion Review, 4(4), 345-357. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073912445818

Pomery, E. A., Gibbons, F. X., & Stock, M. L. (2012). Social comparison. Encyclopedia of Human Behaviour, 463-469. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-375000-6.00332-3

Pool, L. D., & Qualter, P. (2012). Improving emotional intelligence and emotional self-efficacy through a teaching intervention for university students. Learning and Individual Differences, 22, 306-312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2012.01.010

Serrat, O. (2017). Understanding and developing emotional intelligence. Knowledge Solutions, 329-339. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0983-9_37

Smith, R. (2000). Assimilative and contrastive emotional reactions to upward and downward social comparisons. In J. Suls & L. Wheeler (Eds.), Handbook of Social Comparison(173-200). Kluwer Academic. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4615-4237-7_10

Steinbeis, N., & Singer, T. (2013). The effects of social comparison on social emotions and behaviour during childhood: The ontogeny of envy and Schadenfreude predicts developmental changes in equity-related decisions. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 115, 198-209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2012.11.009

Tsay-Vogel, M., & Krakowiak, K. M. (2019). The virtues and vices of social comparisons: examining assimilative and contrastive emotional reactions to characters in a narrative. Motivation and Emotion, 43, 636-647. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-019-09756-y

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