Are Comparisons the Thief of Joy? On the Nuances of How People Make and are Influenced by Comparisons in Health, Performance, and Social Media Contexts

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Abstract

People make comparisons every day. Sometimes these comparisons are mundane—such as comparing between menu items to decide what to eat. Other times, they are more meaningful—such as when people consider whether their peers seem happier, healthier, wealthier, and wiser.  Prevailing wisdom suggests that “Comparison is the thief of joy”, but is it?  In this talk, I will describe 1) the process by which people make comparisons in everyday contexts (e.g., social media, performance, health), 2) the diverse range of comparison sources that people have at their disposal (e.g., social, temporal, dimensional), and 3) the consequences of comparison for self-evaluation and well-being. Taken together, it is suggested that comparison is a fundamental aspect of the human experience that impacts how people evaluate themselves, form identities, make decisions, pursue goals, and regulate emotions—for better and worse.

The Speaker

Jason Rose is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Toledo (U.S.A.) where he co-directs the Integrating Social Psychology and Health in Research (InSPHIRe) Lab. His research interests are at the intersection of social cognition, judgment and decision making, and health psychology. More specifically, his empirical research has investigated social comparison processes, norm perception biases and their influence, perceptions of vulnerability to health threats, optimism and expectations, and individual/cultural differences in judgment and decision-making. This work has been published in journals such as Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, and Psychology & Health. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa and a B.A. from Purdue University at Fort Wayne.