Episode description

If comparison is the thief of joy, why is it so bloody hard to actually stop comparing yourself to other people? Why do humans even compare themselves in the first place? Is there such a thing as healthy comparison? How can we use comparison to improve our lives?

In today’s episode of the matcha diaries, we attempt to answer these questions, as well as many others surrounding the complex topic of comparison. So many blogs/podcast episodes on this topic we found online always had one main takeaway: “Stop comparing yourself to others''!  And whilst that sounds great in theory, in practice this always seemed to prove impossible and slightly too simplistic… So we decided to do a little digging ourselves and explore the scientific reasons behind human’s seemingly endless need for comparison. 💭

Obviously, we are NOT experts in this field and just reflecting on the research we found online (all our sources can be found below). But we still hope that this can give you some food for thought and most importantly, shift your perspective on comparison a little! 💚

So pour yourself a matcha and enjoy! 🍵 Follow us on instagram (@the.matcha.diaries) to let us know what you thought of the episode and your own thoughts on comparison!

Sources:

https://www.jordanharbinger.com/why-you-compare-yourself-to-other-people-and-how-to-stop/#:~:text=Festinger%20basically%20said%20that%20people,learn%20how%20to%20defin

e%20themselves.&text=They%20can%20only%20define%20themselves%20in%20relation%20to%20someone%20else.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/social-comparison-theory

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563213004512

https://positivepsychology.com/social-comparison/

https://claritychi.com/social-comparisons-in-our-social-society/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232505959_Downward_Comparison_Principles_in_Social_Psychology