Social Comparisons and Self Confidence

Social Comparisons and Self Confidence
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Social Comparisons and Self Confidence
Pulford, Woodward, and Taylor (2018) undertook an investigation that measured the tendencies of students to socially equate themselves with their schoolmates in a learning environment. The researchers base their study on the assumption that students have a need to socially match their academic achievements with their classmates, and such comparisons can have an effect on their self-confidence and overall performance. Nonetheless, by stating that there is a lack of proper means of assessing social comparisons in the field of academics, the researchers develop a new scale to measure how individuals socially compare in learning institutions, known as Academic Social Comparison Scale (ASCS) (Pulford, Woodward & Taylor, 2018). The method involved the use of 325 participants who completed an ASCS test, while 253 undertook an Individual Learning Profile (ILP) tests. A measure of social comparisons and academic performance was carried out using questionnaires. Results revealed that students are more likely to engage in upward social comparisons than downward comparisons. The values from Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation indicated that the ASCS was reliable in the research. With regards to gender, women were more likely to engage in upward comparisons. Women also displayed less confidence as compared to men. Based on the results, the authors conclude that the students’ tendency to make social comparison negatively affects their confidence. On the other hand, students who make little to no comparisons showed significant levels of confidence in their oral and writing skills. As a result, Pulford, Woodward, and Taylor (2018) argue that social comparisons reduce an individual’s ability to improve and maintain their metacognitive beliefs, hence lowering their confidence. The authors conclude by stating that future researchers should investigate interventions to help reduce social comparisons.
Based on the theory of social comparison, an individual’s self-confidence can be lowered by upward social comparisons. Individuals have a tendency to measure themselves against others. Although the act of downward comparisons might not negatively influence our confidence, comparing ourselves with people who are superior affects our self-esteem. A common example would be the comparisons that people make on social media. Based on research by Jan, Soomro, and Ahmad (2017), almost 88 percent of users make a social comparison on Facebook, and 98 percent are upward comparisons. Also, every hour spent on Facebook each day leads to a 5.574 decrease in confidence. Such comparisons are made when individuals post on their timelines and share photos publicly for others to see, comment, and like. Similar occurrences are common in schools, with students constantly comparing themselves with classmate...