TY  - GEN
AB  - Theories and research in the area of social comparisons assume that the tendency toward such
comparisons is universal. When investigating what people tend to focus on when making
comparisons, many scholars have dealt with questions such as: with whom; under what
circumstances; and in which realms? But one question has remained almost unexplored: what
role does the migration experience play in social comparisons? In this article, we draw
attention to this important research topic. Qualitative analysis carried out in Project C3 in the
SFB 882 showed that migrants’ transnational comparisons were relevant to perceived
inequalities (see Faist et al. 2015). Here, we present some quantitative evidence concerning
migrants’ social comparisons based on the pilot study conducted by the SFB Project C1,
which involved 200 first- and second-generation Turkish migrants in Germany. The findings
indicate that the migration experience and transnational comparisons are important to some
of these migrants, such as those who view the emotional experience (e.g., the extent of social
support, respect, and recognition) as being better in Turkey. Data from this pilot study also
provide insights into the possible challenges of sociological social comparison studies, which
we discuss in this paper.
DA  - 2016
KW  - Social comparison
KW  - social inequality
KW  - migration
KW  - transnationality
KW  - Germany
KW  - Turkey
LA  - eng
PY  - 2016
SN  - 2193-9624
SP  - 39-
TI  - Social Comparisons in Migration and Inequality Studies: A Literature Review and Evidence from a Pilot Study
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0070-pub-29009367
Y2  - 2024-11-22T03:21:24
ER  -