Social Comparison, Judgment, and Behavior

Abstract This edited volume presents both classic and contemporary conceptual, empirical, and applied perspectives on the role of comparisons with other people—a core aspect of social life—that have implications for the self-concept, opinions, subjective and physical well-being, conformity, decision-making, group behavior, education, and social movements. The volume is comprised of original chapters, authored by noted experts, divided into three sections: basic comparison processes, neighboring fields, and applications. The first section is comprised of chapters that update classic theories and present advances, such as the dominating effect of local versus global comparisons, an analysis of the psychology of competition, how comparisons across different domains influence self-concept and achievement, and the integral connections between stereotyping and comparison. The second section introduces perspectives from neighboring fields that shed new light on social comparison. These chapters range from judgment and decision science, cognitive psychology, social network theory, and animal social behavior. The third section presents chapters that describe applications of comparison, including relative deprivation; health psychology; the effects of income inequality on well-being; the relationships among social hierarchies, power, and comparison; and the interconnections of psychological processes such as comparison and differential construal that favor the status quo and can discourage social action in the face of injustice and inequity.