PhronesisSocial comparison is an adaptive cognitive mechanism for self-evaluation. Pathological social comparison is a wrong attractor W_compare in which the person's self-evaluation system is organized exclusively around reference to others, producing chronic relative deprivation, hedonic treadmill dynamics, and identity instability. We apply the Displacement Framework to formalize pathological social comparison.
The intrinsic self-evaluation ground state S0_intrinsic is defined via Deci and Ryan's self-determination theory: assessment of one's state against personal goals and values rather than external social reference points. W_compare arises through three interlocking mechanisms: the upward comparison spiral (mandatory upward comparison → perceived inferiority → increased comparison drive → higher targets → greater inferiority), the relative deprivation engine (Runciman 1966 — subjective deprivation based on reference group, not absolute conditions; Easterlin paradox), and social media amplification (Vogel et al. 2014/2015 — curated profiles as systematically biased upward comparison targets).
Nine formal propositions cover: S0_intrinsic as autotelic self-evaluation (P1), W_compare as hedonic-reference wrong attractor (P2), the upward comparison spiral (P3), the relative deprivation engine and Easterlin paradox (P4), social media as comparison amplifier (P5), envy as W_compare's affective signature with benign vs. malicious envy (P6), identity instability under comparison regime and sociometer theory (P7), cumulative Phi_compare across self-esteem, behavioral, relational, and meaning domains (P8), and return paths including intrinsic goal cultivation, temporal self-comparison, social media reduction, and gratitude practice (P9).