Istraživanja procesa socijalnog uspoređivanja: Osnovni teorijski i metodološki pristup

Abstract

This paper presents a review of some basic theories and empirical findings about the social comparison processes. Festinger’s theory of social comparison processes was not just the first attempt to systematically elaborate the role of these processes in self-evaluation, but remains also one of the most cited references in social comparison literature. After Festinger’s pioneering work, two basic lines in the development of this research area could be distinguished. The first line, which is based on Festinger’s basic assumption that people compare to others primarily when objective standards for self- evaluation are unavailable, is characterised by the research focus on the preference for specific directions of self-evaluative social comparisons and the relative importance in self-evaluation of social comparison and other types of comparisons, such as temporal comparisons. The second, more recent one, focused more on the consequences and the motives of social comparison, especially on the self-enhancement motive. It was established that these comparison processes are related to other motives as well (e. g. self-protection, self-improvement etc), and that, in addition to comparison direction and motives, the consequences of social comparison also depend on some other factors, such as an individual’s self-esteem level, personal control, his/her perceived closeness and similarity with comparison target, the nature of the comparison dimension etc. The last part of this paper presents an overview of the main methodological approaches in social comparison research, including some useful suggestions for the researchers with regard to some particular procedures and techniques for the assessment of social comparisons.