Social Comparison in an academic scenario: Self-esteem in competitive and non-competitive people

Previous research has provided evidence that self-esteem decreases during an upward social comparison. The current study explored the possibility of a personality dimension on this phenomenon. The objective of the experiment was to test if there was an interaction between the scenario of social comparison and competitiveness, and how these factors influenced levels of self-esteem. 58 participants played a game in which they could choose if they wanted to compete or cooperate, and then they took a self-esteem survey to measure their reaction to the success, mediocrity, or failure of a classmate. We predicted that a competitive person would become more discouraged and have lower self-esteem in reaction to a classmate’s success. A cooperative person, on the other hand, would have lower self-esteem upon learning about the failure of a classmate, and would have comparatively higher self-esteem if they had heard that their classmate was successful. Although the results of the study trended in the direction of our hypothesis, the results were not statistically significant. However, there was evidence supporting that competitive people have higher self-esteem than cooperative people, regardless of the news that they received about the academic performance of their classmate. SOCIAL COMPARISON AND COMPETIVENESS 3 Social Comparison in an academic scenario: Self-esteem in competitive and non-competitive people Because humans are inclined to assess their thinking and performance, they make comparisons to other people (Wood, 1989). Without the presence of objective yardsticks in which to measure their opinions and abilities, individuals rely on social comparisons to evaluate themselves (Morse & Gergen, 1970). This inclination may aid in decision-making, gaining inspiration, making social connections, regulating emotions, and evaluating the self (Vogel, Rose, Robers, & Eckles, 2014). There are two notable types of social comparison. When an individual is comparing themselves with someone they believe to be superior to them, they are making an upward social comparison. When an individual is comparing themselves with someone they believe to be inferior to them, they are making a downward social comparison (Vogel et al., 2014; Wood, 1989). Upward and downward social comparisons are capable of influencing self-esteem. Selfesteem is an individual’s assessment of him or herself; it can be positive or negative and involve evaluations of worthiness and competence. Levels of self-esteem can form over a long period of time and be a stable personality trait. However, there is also evidence that it is a fluid state and levels of self-esteem are contingent on particular situations and contexts (Vogel et. al, 2014). Studies that examined the influence of social media and delinquency support the claim that social comparison influences self-esteem. Facebook users who made frequent upward social comparisons reported having lower self-esteem compared to people who made less upward social comparisons (Feinstein et. al., 2013; Vogel et al., 2014). In research done on downward social comparison, studies indicate that individuals with friends who engaged in delinquent SOCIAL COMPARISON AND COMPETIVENESS 4 behavior (i.e. did not themselves engage in delinquent behavior but associated with people who did) showed higher levels of self-esteem, and delinquents themselves reported lower levels of self-esteem (Jang & Thornberry, 1998). Social comparison may not influence self-esteem in the same way for all people. Personality traits may change the way that individuals perceive others, and it may affect the degree in which their self-esteem fluctuates. Different levels of participants’ self-consistency influenced the fluctuation of their self-esteem when they observed a confederate in an experiment (Morse & Gergen, 1970). When the participants were in the presence of “Mr. Clean,” a confederate who appeared to be successful and highly desirable, they reported having lower levels of self-esteem. On the other hand, exposure to “Mr. Dirty,” a confederate who was less together and undesirable, boosted participants’ self-esteem. Furthermore, participants who scored high on the self-inconsistency measure were more likely to have extreme fluctuations in self-esteem for either condition, i.e., their self-esteem would plummet after observing Mr. Clean or their self-esteem would soar after seeing Mr. Dirty. Individuals who scored lower on the selfinconsistency measure were less sensitive to the social comparison and their self-esteem was more stable. Existing evidence supports the claim that different types of people react to situations in different ways. With the findings of previous studies in mind, a research question for the current study congealed: Would competitive people react differently that cooperative people in a situation of academic social comparison? Self-esteem is important in everyday life; how one feels about oneself can affect one’s actions or decisions in relation to academics, work, relationships, etc. In regards to the connection between self-esteem and competitiveness, further research could reveal if certain SOCIAL COMPARISON AND COMPETIVENESS 5 types of people are well suited for certain types of activities. For example, a more competitive athlete might be better than a less competitive one, but an athlete who is not cooperative may not value the accomplishments of teammates. In an academic setting, some types of students may be encouraged by the achievement of their peers, whereas others lose self-confidence when classmates are successful. This knowledge could influence teaching strategies and classroom dynamics to improve student performance. Some individuals may pursue goals using social comparison as a springboard; they may make upward social comparisons and strive to improve themselves in ways that make them more similar to people they admire (Wood, 1989). The objective of the current research was to test how comparing oneself to a peer influences levels of self-esteem in an academic setting. We measured how competitive inclinations correlated with self-esteem. We then tested if upward and downward social comparison (e.g., a classmate acing a test versus a classmate failing a test) affected self-esteem levels in different ways in different types of people. Our prediction was that upward social comparison decreases self-esteem in competitive people more than non-competitive people in an academic situation. We expected that the self-esteem score would be higher for competitive people in the downward social comparison condition than the self-esteem score for competitive people in the upward social comparison condition. We predicted that the opposite would true when pertaining to individuals who were less competitive (i.e., people more inclined to cooperate than compete): self-esteem for cooperative people would be highest in the upward social comparison condition and lowest in the downward social comparison condition.