Social Comparison

X. Read the text and then translate it in writing.

People need to evaluate their opinions and abilities, and when no objective means are available, they do so by compa­ring their reactions with those of other people. The more uncertain people are, the stronger is their need for social comparison.

In many situations the validity of one's opinions or emo­tional reactions cannot be readily ascertained. Objective reali­ty may be either very complicated, inaccessible, or irrelevant. For instance, in a situation in which students are boycotting classes because of an administrative decision to fire a popular faculty member, what would be the relevant, objective physical evidence on which to base an opinion? Had the professor adequately met the requirements of his job? Had his hearing been fair? Answers to these and to many other questions would be very difficult, if not impossible, to establish. In such ambiguous situations individuals will turn to the opinions of others to evaluate what is the "correct" opinion. The more ambiguous the situation is the more likely such a social comparison process is.

With whom do we compare ourselves? Festinger believed people to seek out others who are similar to themselves in order to evaluate their reactions. If another person is similar to you, his reactions will provide an accurate basis for your own judgments. The opinion of other college students about fashions appears to be more informative to you than your grandmother's opinion on the subject.

What happens once the individual begins comparing his reactions with those of similar people? According to Festinger, he attempts to reduce any discrepancies that exist between himself and the others. Once individuals in a group begin comparing themselves with others, there are strong pressures towards uniformity. Since each person is looking to the reactions of others as his source of knowledge about what is correct, inconsistency is upsetting. If one number of a group feels that marijuana is harmless and another feels that it is not, the discrepancy between their opinions may be unsettling to both. Consequently there are strong pressures for the group to arrive at a uniform reaction.

Social comparison theory clearly provides one explanation of why subjects who are expecting painful electric shocks would wish to affiliate. Most students are not used to receiving electric shocks, so they would be unclear about how they should feel and react. Since there is no physical reality they can use to test the appropriateness of their reactions, the subjects will tend to refer to the experience of the others. Given a choice, students would prefer to compare their experiences with others who are similar. And once the social comparison process begins to operate, there is a tendency toward persuasion and resultant uniformity of reaction.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-27