Subject-oriented comparison of different categories of users of the digital environment

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of indicators of subject-oriented comparison of communicants communicating in a digital environment. The propensity for social comparison is considered, on the one hand, as a general characteristic, on the other hand, it is shown that the focus on comparison may be different for those who communicate a lot and a little on social networks. To assess the overall orientation to social comparison, a Russian-language Questionnaire of Orientation to Social Comparison was used, a Scale of Comparison of physical appearance was used to assess orientation to comparison by appearance, an author’s questionnaire was used to differentiate respondents by different categories. The study involved 156 respondents of different ages. The main hypothesis was that there are differences in the severity of the propensity to compare between those who communicate a lot and a little online. It was found that the more time users spend on social networks and the younger they are, the more they have a general focus on inter- and intra-subject types of comparison and comparison of their appearance. It was revealed that the indicators of orientation to compare oneself with familiar people and to compare oneself in the present with oneself as the respondent could have been, but did not, statistically significantly differ in two categories of social network users: non-communicative respondents are more prone to such types of subject-oriented comparison than communicative respondents, and there are no differences between these groups in their orientation to compare themselves with other people in appearance.