In a study, 39.4% of parents chose healthy foods for their children at a restaurant. However, when parents were provided with a statistic that 75% parents at the restaurant chose healthy foods for their kids, 51% of parents ended up doing the same. Parents who were most affected by the statistics were malleable self-theorists with high social comparison orientation.


Example of Promoting Positive Parental Influence on Healthy Restaurant Meals for Children

Those with high social comparison are less likely to order healthy foods for their children. Parents with high social comparison orientation who are malleable theorist are more likely to conform to their parental network.

New Mexico Highlands University

We match our behavior to others if we’re close in standard to them. People can be low or high in this tendency. 

Social Comparison Theory 

Individuals who hold a fixed implicit theory of the self (entity theorists) tend to be less sensitive to their immediate social situations. In contrast, those with a malleable implicit theory of the self (incremental theorists) are generally more sensitive and responsive to situational cues and social norms.

Implicit Theories of Self and Situational Sensitivity

Hogreve, J., Matta, S., Hettich, A. S., & Reczek, R. W. (2021). How do social norms influence parents’ food choices for their children? The role of social comparison and implicit self-theories. Journal of Retailing, 97(2), 173–190. https://doi-org.proxy.wichita.edu/10.1016/j.jretai.2020.05.002

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