social comparisons
Definition
Social comparisons refers to the process through which individuals evaluate their own views, societal position, and outcomes by comparing themselves to others, a psychological mechanism that plays a central role in determining perceptions of discrimination, feelings of entitlement, well-being, aspirations, and acculturation strategies and adaptations. The comparison process can take multiple forms, including interpersonal, intragroup, intergroup, and temporal comparisons, and operates across different life domains and situational contexts. Relative deprivation—the perception of unfair comparative disadvantage—can lead to anger, resentment, reactive ethnicity, negative attitudes toward other groups, and reduced confidence in social institutions. Despite the centrality of these processes to understanding how acculturating individuals and groups respond to intercultural contact, acculturation research has largely overlooked the role of social comparisons, treating acculturation as a non-comparative process focused primarily on individual preferences rather than the various forms of comparisons in which immigrants themselves engage.
Sources: Verkuyten (2024)
Related Terms
Applications
Social Comparisons and Discrimination Perception
Social comparisons can directly determine how immigrants perceive discrimination within the host society, particularly when higher educated immigrants engage in unfavorable comparisons with similarly educated majority members. This process contributes to the integration paradox, whereby structurally integrated immigrants report higher perceived discrimination and greater psychological distance from the host society, despite their educational and socioeconomic advantages.
Sources: Verkuyten (2024)
Social Comparisons and Relative Deprivation
Relative deprivation—rooted in social comparison processes—occurs when individuals perceive unfair comparative disadvantage in relation to relevant others. Among immigrants, relative deprivation feelings can lead to psychological disengagement from the host society, reduced institutional trust, and support for political protest.
Sources: Verkuyten (2024)
Social Comparisons and Acculturation Strategies
The comparison processes in which acculturating individuals engage—whether with co-ethnics, other minorities, or their own past—shape the strategies and adaptations they adopt across different life domains and situational contexts. Understanding acculturation requires examining how these varied comparison mechanisms influence behavioral, value, and identity-related changes rather than treating acculturation as dependent solely on individual preferences.
Sources: Verkuyten (2024)
