With all this extra time on our hands, many of us have turned to social media for our fix of ‘togetherness’. For the most part this is great for helping us to chat and share and connect. The problem comes when we’re looking so long and hard at our feeds that we start to compare ourselves with others and that familiar icky feeling creeps up. In the 1950’s a theory called Social Comparison Theory was created by psychologist Leon Festinger. It states that there are two ways in which we compare ourselves with others and boy oh boy is it relevant now. Upward social comparison
This is where we compare ourselves with someone who has more than us, for example they might have a nicer house in the background of their photos than us. It can be easy to feel resentful or disheartened in this situation. How to flip it
Bring to mind all the similarities between you and this person, for example you might have gone to school together, be a similar age or the same gender. Once you’ve done that, give yourself a pep talk to say that if they can do/create/achieve/manifest something you desire then so can you. Downward Social Comparison This is where we look at someone who has less than us, for example they might be struggling to pay bills more than we are. Sometimes this can create an inflated sense of ego or prompt us to stop putting effort in because we have a bigger safety net. How to flip it Use this situation to conjure up gratitude for what you have and as a bonus if you feel up to it, see if you can help that person in some way.
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