Interpreting and Inventing Social Reality

Clearly, Leon Festinger hit upon an important subject when he formulated social comparison theory nearly 50 years ago. The ways that people view their opinions, their abilities, and their life situations vary according to the standing of other people. Recently, during the National Basketball Association lockout, star New York Knicks center Patrick Ewing said that current NBA salaries were “about survival, about being able to feed our families” (Newsweek, January 4, 1999, p. 108). Ewing’s salary was $18.5 million per year. That is probably enough to eat on. However, the amount of money made by owners is Ewing’s standard of comparison. Similarly, in resigning Bernie Williams, the New York Yankees baseball team paid the star outfielder $87.5 million for 7 years, so that Williams would not feel underpaid in comparison to first baseman Mo Vaughn, who signed with the California Angels for $80 million for 6 years. Why would Williams only feel happy if his salary compared well to Vaughn’s?

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