The negative impact of such comparisons isn't limited to our mental state; it can have tangible effects on our behavior and life choices. For instance, a study by Chou and Edge (2012) found that heavy Facebook users were more likely to believe that others were living happier, more successful lives than themselves, leading to decreased life satisfaction. This perception can drive individuals to make decisions based on a distorted view of reality, potentially leading to financial strain, relationship issues, or career dissatisfaction as they strive to match an unattainable ideal.

This process of social comparison is a fundamental human tendency, but its effects on our well-being can vary dramatically depending on how we engage in it.

Acknowledging the audiences’ already (assumed) positions and experiences

Analyze each source's strengths and weaknesses and/or each source’s pros and cons for your specific audience.

select three (3) sources from your research(Annotated Bibliography) that represent a diversity of perspectives on the issue, ensuring that each source offers something unique that adds to the issue's complexity for your specific audience.

Developing empathy is crucial when making downward comparisons. Rather than simply feeling relief that you're better off than others, try to cultivate compassion for those facing challenges. This approach can lead to a greater appreciation for your own circumstances while fostering a sense of connection with others.

When you do engage in upward comparisons, try to focus on personal growth rather than self-criticism. Instead of viewing others' successes as a reflection of your own shortcomings, use them as inspiration and motivation.

When we take the time to reflect on our relative advantages or the challenges others face, we often gain a renewed appreciation for our own circumstances.

A meta-analysis by Yoon et al. (2019)

Our findings furthermore revealed a direct negative effect of upward social comparison on well-being. This finding suggests that self-esteem is only one factor accounting for lower well-being and that upward social comparison can also directly affect well-being in a negative way. For instance, upward social comparison may produce envy and frustration (Appel et al., 2016). These stressors may in turn directly lower individuals’ subjective well-being without necessarily affecting their self-esteem first. Additionally, individuals who compare themselves to others may be more likely to think that life is not fair (Chou et al., 2012), which can also directly affect subjective well-being.

Our findings also indicate important consequences of upward social comparison processes over time. Results revealed that upward social comparison was negatively related to individuals’ self-esteem, which predicted lower subjective well-being. As such, our findings shed some light on the underlying mechanisms of SNS use and well-being by revealing that upward social comparison and self-esteem explain that relationship. In doing so, our findings bolster previous research by showing that SNS use can indeed predict decreased life satisfaction and frustration with users’ own lives (Chou et al., 2012). In this context, our findings contribute to the existing research in an important way by scrutinizing the underlying mechanisms, which predict changes in well-being over time.

Exposure to carefully selected information on social networking sites (SNSs) showing a flawless self and an ideal life has been found to harm young individuals’ self-esteem and well-being.

These results highlight the need to consider decreasing unflattering social comparison as a component of interventions for users suffering from lower subjective well-being. Our findings also imply that high social comparison orientation SNSs users are more likely to make more upward social comparisons, and therefore suffer regarding their self-evaluations and subjective well-being

However, viewing this information might not necessarily always lead to negative feelings. Instead, this negative effect may depend on other possible mediating and moderating variables. For example, if SNS usage does not lead to upward social comparison, then the effect on self-esteem should be nominal, if at all present.

Social comparison is generally most potent for the young.

My thesis, in asingle sentence: Civilized societies revolve around education now, but there is a better—indeed,more civilized—way. If everyone had a college degree, the result would be not great jobs for all,but runaway credential inflation.

realistic substitute: vocational education

push for broader college

which is to say that a great majority of the extra educationworkers received was deployed not to get better jobs, but to get jobs that had recently been heldby people with less education.

Studyingirrelevancies for the next four years will impress future employers and raise her incomepotential. If she tried to leap straight into her first white-collar job, insisting, “I have the rightstuff to graduate, I just choose not to,” employers wouldn’t believe her. To unilaterally curtailyour education is to relegate yourself to a lower-quality pool of workers. For the individual,college pays.

eight hours

I’m cynical about students. The vast majority are philistines. I’m cynical about teachers. The vastmajority are uninspiring. I’m cynical about “deciders”—the school officials who control whatstudents study. The vast majority think they’ve done their job as long as students comply.

I try to teach my students to connect lectures to the real world and daily life. Myexams are designed to measure comprehension, not memorization. Yet in a good class, four test-takers out of 40 demonstrate true economic understanding

philistines

In 2003, the United States Department of Education gave about 18,000 Americans the NationalAssessment of Adult Literacy. The ignorance it revealed is mind-numbing. Fewer than a third ofcollege graduates received a composite score of “proficient”

that education pays because students learn—assumes that the typicalstudent acquires, and retains, a lot of knowledge. She doesn’t.

You’ll receive a salary bump compared with someone who’s attendedno college, but it won’t be anywhere near 25 percent of the salary premium you’d get for a four-year degree. Similarly, the premium for sophomore year is nowhere near 50 percent of the returnon a bachelor’s degree, and the premium for junior year is nowhere near 75 percent of thatreturn. Indeed, in the average study, senior year of college brings more than twice the payincrease of freshman, sophomore, and junior years combined.

confers some marketable skills,namely literacy and numeracy

Suppose your law firm wants a summer associate. A law student with a doctorate in philosophyfrom Stanford applies. What do you infer? The applicant is probably brilliant, diligent, andwilling to tolerate serious boredom. If you’re looking for that kind of worker—and whatemployer isn’t?—you’ll make an offer, knowing full well that nothing the philosopher learned atStanford will be relevant to this job.

academicsuccess is a strong signal of worker productivity.

The earnings premium for college graduates has rocketed to 73 percent—that is, those with a bachelor’s degree earn, on average, 73 percent more than those who haveonly a high-school diploma, up from about 50 percent in the late 1970s.

lash out at oursystem of higher education.

Bryan Caplan

Include a main takeaway (thesis)