social comparison
Gauging relative standing
Social comparison is measuring yourself against others—your abilities, status, appearance, or circumstances relative to theirs.
The comparison can run upward (against those doing better) or downward (against those doing worse), with different psychological effects.
Social comparison on Instagram left her feeling inadequate.
The term comes from psychology but has entered general use, especially in discussions of social media's mental health effects.
- self-esteemOne's sense of worth
- insecurityUncertainty about oneself
- peer pressureInfluence from one's equals
- downwardToward a lower position
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
status anxiety · fear of missing out · rivalry · rat race · upward · benchmark · beauty standards · body image · self-concept · self-doubt · compare and despair · attribution theory · interpersonal relationships · cognitive dissonance · impression management · perfectionism · measuring · motivation
- social developmentsocialization, friendship, belonging, sharing, turn-taking
- social psychologyconformity, attribution, groupthink, group dynamics, bystander effect
- body imagebody image, body positivity, body acceptance, body shaming, body shame
- status anxietystatus anxiety, envy, keeping up with the Joneses, inferiority complex, insecurity
- beautymakeup, cosmetics, lipstick, mascara, eyeliner
- conformityconformity, conforming, conform, conformist, conformism
social comparisonself-focus
Attention toward oneself
introspection · self-reflection · self-absorption · self-examination · individualism