Social Comparisons: How to compare yourself with others fairly

“You shouldn’t compare yourself with others” is common advice these days. The idea is that if you compare yourself with someone who is doing better than you in something that matters to you, this social comparison is going to make you feel bad. And, therefore, it is wise to avoid social comparisons altogether.

But…

• Is it realistic to eliminate social comparisons from our lives, given that we are extremely social creatures?
• Wouldn’t we miss some of the benefits of social comparisons if we did?
• Is the problem the social comparisons themselves or our responses to those comparisons?
• Is there a way that we could adaptively respond to unfavourable social comparisons?
• Has social media transformed the effects of social comparisons?

At the next meetup, we will discuss social comparisons from psychological and practical perspectives. To inform our discussion, I have selected a practical CBT-based guide on social comparisons written by the clinical psychologist Joel Milden. You can read it here:

• How to Compare Yourself with Others Fairly by Joel Milden

We will also have time to talk about ourselves and brainstorm ideas for next meetups.

See you soon.

Ángel