The Theory of Social Comparison, enunciated by Festinger in 1954, explains how we compare our capacities and opinions with those people we perceive to be most similar to us, who identify our values, and with those closest to us in our social circles, by proximity. People might prefer different types or direction of comparison depending on their motivation.Downward comparison is when the person looks at people they consider to be in a worse state in some important aspect, they look at "others" who perceive different, generating positive relief results in the event that the "other" is perceived in a worse situation (descending).
