Equity judgments may be based on comparisons between ones. Greenberg 16 reports a study in competition in which pairs of children, seated together at a table, were to construct things out of stones blocks which were initially all in one common pile. We systematically analyze the role of social comparison processes in organizations. Specifically, we describe how social comparison processes have been used to explain six key areas of. Social comparison processes in organizations request pdf. The why and when of motivation gains of inferior group members article pdf available in journal of applied social psychology 385. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 102, 2241.
Later published as social comparison processes in organizations. If you have access to a journal via a society or association membership, please browse to your society journal, select an article to view, and follow the instructions in this box. A theory of social comparison processes leon festinger, 1954. The iowanetherlands comparison orientation measure incom comprises 11 core items that have been tested in the united states and the netherlands. Hypotheses of the social comparison theory leon festinger mentioned his hypotheses in his book entitled social comparison processes that gives substantial exploration of his theory. His first hypothesis states that there exist, in the human organism, a drive to evaluate his opinions and abilities.
Social comparison processes are fundamental to understand who we are, what are our positive qualities, and we do this by exchanging feedbacks in the interactions with. Social comparison theory has inspired a great deal of research, but the history of the literature is uneven, with spikes of activity in 1966 and 1977, and then a more steady output since the early 1980s. A theory of social comparison processes leon festinger. Researchers have applied social comparison theory to explain the processes for setting executive compensation oreilly et al. Social comparison theory an overview sciencedirect topics. This paper furthers festingers views on group influences of opinions and applies it to abilities as well. A theory of social comparison processes 8 there is some indirect corroboration of this from experimental evidence. As we discussed earlier, compensation committees play an important role in setting executive compensation, and compensation committees often include ceos from other organizations of equal or greater stature.