The Sense of Self: Reflected Self-Appraisal and Social Comparison

As someone navigates the social world, they may reflect on “who they are.” In reality, the narrative of one’s self is created as a product of construal processes.

That is, individuals construct their sense of self based on many influential sources, including main socialization agents—people like family members, friends, and teachers—as well as social contexts.

For instance, starting in her early years, the woman’s parents encouraged daily art lessons, attended every showing, and celebrated prestigious accomplishments. As a result, being an artist is at the core of her sense of self.

Along the course of obtaining self-knowledge, she may also be motivated to view herself favorably, in part through two convictions: reflection and social comparison.

On the one hand, in reflected self-appraisal—someone’s sense of self is likely based on their perceived beliefs about what others think of them. Here, when her friend laughs at her commentary, it’s like the observer’s reaction is mirrored back, and she believes she has a sense of humor.

Moreover, in another context, the same person may express a different characteristic. Now that her favorite professor is nearby, she shifts to a serious demeanor. This case refers to the working self-concept—the idea that a subset of self-knowledge is brought to mind, given the particular context.

In this manner, people can predictably change who they are. They may retrieve their sense of studiousness around someone like a professor and laziness when they don’t want to study.

On the other hand, people may actively search for others to assess themselves. In this circumstance of social comparison, a person relies on someone else to learn about their own abilities, attitudes, and traits.

For example, if she is thinking about herself as hard-working, she might look to others to compare to them how hard she works. She's likely to choose someone who is less hardworking than her to make herself feel better, which is an example of a downward social comparison.

However, this type of comparison can be harmful because it impedes her ability to improve and learn from someone who knows more than she does.

In contrast, an upward social comparison—in which she compares herself to someone who is more hardworking than she is—may motivate her to work harder.

Regardless, one’s sense of self is constructed, maintained, and adjusted as people encounter others or even move from one context to another. Why not create empowering alter egos!