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Social Comparison Theory

Psychology from the Lost and Found

Williams College

The history of Festinger's social comparison theory is traced from its publication in 1954 to its celebration at the APA convention in 1984. Social comparison theory received little attention after its original publication. Possible explanations include Festinger's turning to dissonance theory and the relatively low circulation of the journal in which it was published, Human Relations. The theory was kept alive by Schachter's work on affiliation and emotions and by the papers published in Latane's (1966) JESP Social Comparison supplement. After the 1966 supplement, work by Pettigrew, Brickman, and Wheeler and the linkage of social comparison to attribution theory rekindled interest in comparison processes. This interest culminated in the publication of Suls and Miller's (1977) book on social comparison. Interest in social comparison is predicted to remain high because of the centrality of social comparison processes in overall self-evaluation and their relevance to a wide range of social psychological concerns, including attribution. Unresolved questions and new directions are discussed.

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