Social Comparison and Social Psychology: Understanding Cognition, Intergroup Relations, and Culture

The concept of social comparison is a well-known one in experimental social psychology. It refers to a fundamental process where we relate ourselves to others. Engaging in this social comparison has tremendous impact on our way of thinking, feeling and behaving, and even on the sense of who we are. This important new study, which synthesizes the latest theoretical and empirical developments in social comparison research, provides invaluable information on the role of this process of comparison as it occurs between individuals and between groups. It also considers, for the first time, how this process of comparison varies across cultures.