Helpful Links
Social Comparison Theory
- Wikipedia on Social Comparison theory
- Leon Festinger’s Social Comparison Theory – A concise overview.
- SC Theory from Psychology Notes HQ – Another concise overview.
- An overview from Psychology Today
- A short overview from VeryWellMind – Includes some helpful examples.
- Brian Johnson podcast – in this episode, Brian covers the ‘comparison game’
Self Improvement
- How We Judge Others – An expertly written and motivating article by Mark Manson.
- Winning a Yoga Race – Seth Godin highlights a stark contrast in our tendency to compare vs. our needs.
- Improving Ourselves to Death – This article from the New Yorker lays bare our motivations to optimize our lives in comparison with others’.
- Martha Graham on the Hidden Danger of Comparing Yourself to Others – An insightful reflection on the dangers of Social Comparison by a famous performer.
Happiness
- Compare Less, Be More – This article from Tiny Buddha touts it as ‘the key to happiness’…
- How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others and Be Happier – A few quick tips from Psychology Today.
- Got Happiness? Social Comparison Theory can Help – Relating SC Theory to happiness in a simple way.
The “Trap”
- Social Comparison is Toxic – An ‘Optimize +1’ video from Brian Johnson
- The Comparison Trap – A detailed Psychology Today article on dealing practically with SC.
- Status Roles – A funny collection of videos highlighting status roles.
- Brian Johnson’s Philosopher’s notes – False Comparison
- Why You Should Stop Caring What Other People Think – Fantastic as always article from Wait But Why
More Links
- The Three Raindrops – A curt, 8-page children’s book satirizing Social Comparison in a simple, clarifying metaphor.
- Secrets About People: A Short and Dangerous Introduction to René Girard – A long article about the insights of this social anthropologist, especially relating to what he noticed about comparison.
Videos
Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, asks ‘why are we happy?’
The Culture of Comparison: Bea Arthur discusses pop culture and the effects of technology on our happiness.
The impact of Facebook on Social Comparison.
A clip from the film American Psycho, highlighting the tunnel vision of Social Comparison.
A very insightful snippet from the film Brad’s Status. The comparison can be very steep.
This clip from the incredible dystopian series Black Mirror shows an eerie future where we work for others’ approval as monetary gain.
Why you should stop comparing yourself to other people.
What is imposter syndrome and how can you combat it?
‘The Imposter Syndrome’ from School of Life.
Books
Another helpful mantra, from James Clear of Atomic Habits:
To improve, compare little things.
- Marketing Strategies
- Exercise Technique
- Writing Tactics
To be miserable, compare big things.
- Career Path
- Marriage
- Net Worth
Comparison is the thief of joy when applied broadly, but the teacher of skills when applied narrowly.