Abstract
This chapter considers the role of social comparison in self change. Social comparison is relevant for change processes because individuals gain knowledge about themselves through comparison with other persons. There are ways in which comparison may serve as a trigger to self change, if social comparisons show a reason for dissatisfaction with the self and suggest a goal for improvement. Some types of social comparison are useful for reducing subjective distress, which could help persons to activate a coping or self-change effort. However, there may be conditions in which the focus is on self-protection or avoidance of social comparison, which could serve to deter the commencement of a change effort. The purpose of this chapter is to show how social comparison theory is relevant to self change and to delineate conditions under which certain kinds of comparison may occur.
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