Social comparison processes include the desire to affiliate with others, the desire for information about others, and explicit self-evaluation against others. Previously these types of comparison activity and their corresponding measures have been treated as interchangeable. We present evidence that in certain groups under threat, these comparison activities diverge, with explicit self-evaluation made against a less fortunate target (downward evaluation), but information and affiliation sought out from more fortunate others (upward contacts). These effects occur because downward evaluation and upward contacts appear to serve different needs, the former ameliorating self-esteem and the latter enabling a person to improve his or her situation and simultaneously increase motivation and hope.
Downward “comparisons” (or explicit self-evaluations) may meet emotional needs by making people feel fortunate in comparison with others and by raising self-esteem. Upward contacts may serve problem-solving needs by providing role models on whom one can pattern one’s own behavior and meet certain emotional needs by providing hope and inspiration. These two patterns (upward contacts and downward evaluations) may exist simultaneously in the same people without engendering any contradictions, in as much as affiliations are social contacts and downward evaluations can be cognitive constructions.
Social Comparison Activity Under Threat: Downward Evaluation and Upward Contacts
by Shelley E. Taylor and Marci Lobel
http://taylorlab.psych.ucla.edu/1989_Social%20Comparison%20Activity%20Under%20Threat.pdf
Social comparison theory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_comparison_theory
Social comparison theory was initially proposed by social psychologist Leon Festinger in 1954. Social comparison theory is centered on the belief that there is a drive within individuals to gain accurate self-evaluations. 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.
Following the initial theory, research began to focus on social comparison as a way of self-enhancement, introducing the concepts of downward and upward comparisons and expanding the motivations of social comparisons.
T. A. Wills introduced the concept of downward comparison in 1981. Downward social comparison is a defensive tendency that people use as a means of self-evaluation. These individuals will look to another individual or comparison group who are considered to be worse off in order to dissociate themselves from perceived similarities and to make themselves feel better about their self or personal situation. Social comparison research has suggested that comparisons with others who are better off or superior on an upward comparison can lower self-regard whereas downward comparisons can elevate self-regard. Downward comparison theory emphasizes the positive effects of comparisons in increasing one’s subjective well-being. For example, it has been found that breast cancer patients made the majority of comparisons with patients less fortunate than themselves.
People make upward comparisons, both consciously and subconsciously, with other individuals they perceive to be better than themselves in order to improve their views of self or to create a more positive perception of their personal reality. In an upward social comparison, people want to believe themselves to be part of the elite or superior, and make comparisons showing the similarities in themselves and the comparison group. It has also been suggested that upward comparisons may provide an inspiration to improve, and in one study it was found that while breast cancer patients made more downward comparisons, they showed a preference for information about more fortunate others.
In simple terms, downward social comparisons are more likely to make us feel better about ourselves, while upward social comparisons are more likely to motivate us to achieve more or reach higher.