Harnessing Social Comparison for the Power of Good
Utilizing aspects of social comparison theory can provide your clients with the motivation they need to reach farther and attain goals beyond their wildest dreams.
Hello, Talking About Money Community, how are you? 🌞
In today’s post I want to discuss social comparison theory. According to an article in Psychology Today, social comparison theory explains the idea that individuals determine their own worth based on how they stack up against others. This worth may be assessed by either comparing yourself to someone who you think is doing better than you, or to someone who you perceive as doing worse.
So how does lend itself to the financial capability services that you provide your community? How does social comparison manifest itself, and can it be harnessed for the power of good? Let’s find out.
Making Comparisons Up the Ladder
I have a friend who is a talented artist. Really talented. He attended a magnet high school for the arts, as well as a prestigious and well-known college dedicated to the arts. He clearly knows his stuff. After working in the corporate sector for a number of years, he branched out and is trying his hand at starting his own business. He can picture his success, but he is experiencing frustration in manifesting it. His frustration gets worse when he happens to cross paths with his old classmates online. Recently he told me:
“I have this old classmate of mine, who I just saw on [insert social media platform here]. Wow, is he doing amazing! He is so talented, more so than I ever was, and he is rocking it in his career. I can’t believe how well he is doing, while I am having so much trouble getting my business off the ground. If only I had what he had, then I would be successful too.”
While my friend clearly admires his old classmate, he turns green with envy when he compares his classmate’s professional success to what he chalks up his not-good-enough-ness. This has him at a standstill and unsure of how to proceed.
Making Comparisons Down the Ladder
I will always remember this fleeting moment that I observed at a conference a few years ago:
During the lunch hour of a multi-day conference I was attending, participants were mingling over their buffet lunches of pasta, salad, and pastries (remember when in-person conferences and buffet lunches were a thing?). Over the din of forks, networking, and laughter, the conference hosts called our attention to start the mid-day session. The executive director gave her opening remarks, and then a member of the financial capability staff got up to introduce one of their best-and-brightest clients to share her experience with their program.
The client came to the mic, smoothed her tailored dress, and began to share her story of being a hard-working single mom who really wanted to pursue her career. The staff person who introduced her stood off to the side, beaming with pride. She went on to explain that through the help of this organization, she was able to get a managerial job that paid $85,0000 a year, enough to support her and her daughter.
I’m not sure how many in the audience saw what I did, but for a flash of a second this staff person’s face dropped. Up until that moment I don’t think that she knew how much her client was making…and that she was making more than the nonprofit staff person who she credited with her success.
Making downward comparisons can have deleterious effects as well. I am sure that the financial capability staff person loved her job and took great pride in helping others. And I’d take a guess that she had even told herself that it didn’t matter what her salary was, because she was committed to the mission. But to have your client pull in a higher salary than you. Well, that stung.
Harnessing Social Comparison for the Power of Good
We have seen the negative consequences of social comparison theory when it makes the person feel bad about themselves. But there are ways to harness social comparisons to activate your clients to both reach higher while appreciating what they already have.
Taking from yet another insightful article from Psychology Today, here are some helpful tips to consider when thinking about operationalizing components of the social comparison theory for your financial capability program:
Seek Community, Not Comparison: In your clients’ journey towards financial security, look for ways to bring together like-minded souls who are on the same path, for support and encouragement. Orchestrate ways for them to interact with one another so that they can build relationships and develop trust with one another, even if you offer primarily a one-on-one type of service.
Have Them Look One Rung Up the Ladder: When pursuing a path of financial wellness, it helps to have role models, but they need to be realistic role models when compared to your clients’ reality. There is no point in your clients trying to “Keep Up with the Joneses” when they are in a vastly different financial circumstance than the Joneses are. It’s better that you identify role models (like recent graduates of your program) who are slightly ahead of the folks that you currently serve.
Encourage Them to Look Down the Ladder Too: Sometimes it’s helpful to encourage your clients to consider what they have that maybe their ancestors did not. If their job, or housing, or health is in better condition than family members that lived 100 years ago, call it out so that they can be appreciative of that.
Compare the Today “You” to the Yesterday “You”: At certain stages of your financial capability program, it may be beneficial to pause and spend some time having your clients reflect on how far they have come thus far. Maybe they have set up direct deposit and are starting to see their savings grow, or maybe they have cut out a spending leak from their cash flow and are having an easier time making it through the month. Every small win needs to be called out and appreciated.
Stay Optimistic: Social comparison theory can serve as a reminder that while others’ financial lives can get better, your clients’ financial lives can get better too. The mantra is to appreciate where your finances are today and know that it will only get better in the months and years to come. Appreciate the success of others who are ahead of you on your journey, as they are paving the way for your future success.
