Blog #3- Social Comparison Theory

As a social being, I am often influenced by the behaviors of others. In developing my own self-concept, I often compare myself to others as an anchor for the value and normality of my own behavior. In Social Psychology, this practice is called Social Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1954); in which individuals measure their own self-worth by comparing themselves with other individuals. Although I often make small, almost subconscious, comparisons to others, one instance from my teenage years stands out as a significant use of Social Comparison Theory. As a teenager, I was a confident and almost outrageously outgoing 15-year-old. However, I was not immune to the human tendency to compare myself to others, especially in attempting to define a solid self-concept. The qualities that I mistakenly began to admire in other individuals were influenced by the wealthy peers that I attended high school with. Brand name clothes and luxury cars were quite appealing, and were things I began to value and desire because others had them. My mom gave in to a lot of my pleas for expensive purses and shoes, but she wisely put a firm foot down when I began begging for a BMW. Many of my peers drove brand new BMWs and Mercedes, and I wanted to have the same luxury. When my mom informed me that I would definitely not be receiving one of these high-end cars as my first vehicle, I was irrationally outraged. The thought that I would not have one of these status cars was daunting to my immaturely developed self-esteem. However, as my sixteenth birthday drew closer, my mom and I began to talk extensively about my car situation. She knew I was upset, but wanted me to realize that I would have a vehicle when I turned 16, and that this was a significant privilege. My mom made me draw a social comparison with other individuals my age, and much older, who were not able to afford a car, despite a considerable necessity for one. She helped me to appreciate the fact that I would even have a car given to me at such a young age, as many others worked very hard but still could not afford the luxury of having a car. By comparing myself with less fortunate individuals, I employed the Social Comparison Theory, and was able to build my own self-esteem through this comparison. Most importantly, I learned to appreciate the privileges that I had been gifted with in my life, and that these material things were not proper measures of self-worth. Ever since that realization, I have been much more careful to use my Social Comparisons to be more mindful of the less fortunate in this world.

Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7, 117-140.

Blog#2- Self-Serving Bias in Sports

The Self-Serving Bias is one that most individuals experience as a defensive reaction to negative situations or failures, and one that I have certainly experienced many times. In Social Psychology, a Self-Serving Bias is a Motivational Bias that describes when individuals attribute positive successes to personal factors, and attribute failures to situational factors (Mezulis, 2004). Although I have probably used the Self-Serving Bias in many instances, I distinctly remember using it in high school sports. I have loved volleyball since I was a toddler and was obsessed with watching famous California doubles teams battling on the sand. I became such a fan, and bothered my parents enough, that finally one day my dad came home with a volleyball net to set up in our backyard. I always looked forward to my parents coming home from work and playing with me, even though they were pretty horrible at the game. By the time I reached high school, I had been on middle school teams and wanted to try out for Varsity. My freshman year, I attended the two week pre-season of intense conditioning, and felt confident that I was on the level of the Varsity players. However, when tryouts came, I felt sluggish and unprepared in comparison with the older girls. During the two day tryouts, I convinced myself that I was tired, and was dealing with too much friend drama to be focused enough to make Varsity. When I found out that I made the Junior Varsity team, I was able to justify my failure with these situational factors. I was not, however, prepared to completely give up on my dream of being a Varsity volleyball player. I spent the entire off-season training in my backyard, and honing my serves, vertical jumps and difficult passes. My sophomore year of high school quickly rolled around, and I was able to show up and impress my coaches. I was not surprised that I made Varsity that year because I felt that situational factors were not negatively influencing my skill, and I was confident that I was a dedicated volleyball player. I perceived that my success in finally joining the Varsity team was due to my own ability and skill, and that my previous failure had been due to situational factors, rather than inability on my part. But I now realize that I was being influenced by the Self-Serving Bias. In reality, I was probably not conditioned or trained well enough to become a Varsity player my freshman year, but it was a self-esteem building reaction that caused me to rationalize my thoughts with the Self-Serving Bias.

References

Mezulis, A. H., Abramson, L. Y., Hyde, J. S., & Hankin, B. L. (2004). Is there a universal positivity bias in attributions? A meta-analytic review of individual, developmental, and cultural differences in the self-serving attributional bias. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 771-747.

Blog #1: First Impressions Are Everything

The Primacy Effect

The Primacy Effect is the idea that early impressions tend to shape and affect later impressions (Asch, 1946). In my adolescence, I became acutely aware that first impressions are extremely important. Therefore, I can closely identify with the Primacy Effect, as it was an aggravating problem for me throughout middle and high school. I attended the same small, private school from third grade to senior year. At such a small school, the academic reputation that each student created at the beginning of their career stuck with them throughout their experience. Teachers communicated at a great extent about the strengths and weaknesses of individual students, and it was obvious who the “best and brightest” were by the time fifth grade rolled around. As a student who attended Montessori school until third grade, I had a hard time adjusting to a traditional classroom setting. Due to this strange environment and my affinity for talking nonstop, my teachers quickly pegged me as a problem student, and I was frequently sent to the principle’s office, often for misconduct that I had not even participated in. Instead of experiencing the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, in which the expectations others project cause a person to eventually conform to these expectations (Merton, 1948), I worked to dispel the negative impression the teachers and faculty had of me. However, my efforts were fruitless as I realized that these middle and high school teachers also talked, and that these teachers still labeled me as a problem student. I continued to put forth my best efforts, enrolled in mostly honors and AP courses, and maintained good grades. However, I still received report cards indicating that I was too focused on socializing and that I was not living up to standards. In August parent-teacher meetings, my teachers indicated that I was supposedly not an exemplary student, and that they hoped I could alter my behavior by the time I enrolled in college.

After being accepted to Southwestern and meeting Professors who believed in my academic ability, I realized that those first impressions at my school must have truly influenced each teacher’s subsequent impression of me. Many teachers in high school indicated that previous teachers had made comments about low expectations for me, and few had faith in my abilities, despite frequent academic achievements. The first bad impressions that I made as an alienated third grader were powerful enough to follow me for ten years, despite the many good impressions I later created. Due to this extreme experience with the Primacy Effect, I now consciously make an extra effort to form good first impressions.

References

Asch, S. E. (1946). Forming impressions of personality. Journal of Abnormal and Social

Psychology, 41, 258-290.

Merton, R. (1948). The self-fulfilling prophecy. Antioch Review, 8, 193-210.