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Content Summary
Social Psychology Article
Christopher Theriault
Department of Psychology, Liberty University
PSY 512: Social Psychology
Dr. Snyder
August 26, 2025
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Content Summary
Introduction
It is human nature to look at others in order to understand our own abilities and how we
fit within society. People engage in comparison in both the physical and digital world as a way of
better understanding who they are. Theories such as Kelly’s attribution theory help explain
these comparisons and how they influence individuals’ self-perceptions and behaviors.
Social Comparison
People compare themselves to others to better understand who they are within their
community. Through these comparisons, they obtain relevant information about themselves
and what the standard should be (Chadee, 2022). For example, if someone is playing soccer and
wants to evaluate their abilities, they would need to compare their performance to other
players to assess how well they play the game. This aligns with Festinger’s social comparison
theory, which states that when people are uncertain of their abilities, they evaluate themselves
by comparing with similar individuals (Kassin et al., 2025).
In modern society, people also turn to social media to make comparisons. However,
among adolescents, the impact of these comparisons appears to be marginal. Most adolescents
do not feel significantly better or worse when viewing posts from others (Ine et al., 2020). While
more studies may be needed to fully understand the effects of social media among adolescents’
comparisons, real-world examples remain central to how people define themselves and
determine the standards they seek to live up to.
Social Media Comparison
Adolescents do not appear to experience the same level of impact from social media
comparisons as the general population. Researchers argue that individuals have different levels
of susceptibility to media, influenced by a variety of personal and contextual factors (Ine et al.,
2020). Adults, for example, often report different responses to social media use compared to
adolescents, and these differences extend across generations. Some studies suggest that social
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media use can contribute to “Facebook depression,” in which individuals become more envious
and unhappy after engaging with online content (Kassin et al., 2025).
The effect of social comparison on social media largely depends on how the platform is
used. For instance, if someone views another person’s Facebook profile and perceives that
individual’s life as better than their own, they may experience feelings of envy and
dissatisfaction. This reaction reflects self-evaluation maintenance theory, which explains that
upward comparisons—comparing oneself to those perceived as more successful—can lead to
feelings of inferiority (Chadee, 2022). Ultimately, the way social media is consumed plays a
critical role in determining whether it supports well-being or contributes to negative outcomes
such as Facebook depression.
Attribution and Social Media Behavior
Using Kelley’s attribution theory— specifically, his covariation model—can help explain
how individuals interpret social media behavior and how this may contribute to phenomena like
"Facebook depression." The model provides a framework for causal analysis of how people
understand social events (Laczniak, 2001), focusing on three key dimensions: consensus,
distinctiveness, and consistency (Karrin, 2022). For example, if a user comments on someone’s
post, we can analyze the behavior through these cues. If many people comment on the same
post, that reflects high consensus. If the user frequently comments, that indicates high
consistency. If the user behaves similarly across various posts and platforms, that suggests low
distinctiveness. According to Kelley’s model, this pattern leads to an internal attribution—the
behavior is likely due to something about the individual, such as their personality or
communication style (Chadee,
2022).
Conclusion
Social media is a powerful tool through which people compare themselves to others in
order to evaluate their own abilities and determine what standards to live by. Kelly’s attribution
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theory highlights how individuals’ quality of life not only affects themselves but also the people
around them. Scripture also cautions against constant comparison: “Each one should test his
own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else,
for each one should carry his own load” (New International Version, 2011/1978, Galatians 6:4–
5).
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References
Chadee, D. (2022). Theories in social psychology. John Wiley & Sons.
Ine, B., Loes, P. J., van Driel Irene, I., Loes, K., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2020). The effect of social
media on well-being differs from adolescent to adolescent. Scientific Reports (Nature
Publisher Group), 10(1) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67727-7
Kassin, S. M., Fein, S., & Markus, H. R. (2025). Social psychology. SAGE.
Laczniak, R. N., DeCarlo, T. E., & Ramaswami, S. N. (2001). Consumers’ Responses to Negative
Word-of-Mouth Communication: An Attribution Theory Perspective. Journal of Consumer
Psychology, 11(1), 57–73. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1480311
The Holy Bible, New International Version. (2011). Zondervan. (Original work published 1978)
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