Stress is a common problem that occurs in life and almost occurs in all circles of individuals. Adolescents are vulnerable to stress because of the demands attached to them, one of which is meeting academic demands. Stress that occurs during education is known as academic stress. Academic stress is an individual's perception of events or situations such as academic stressors with adjustments that exceed personal capacity, resulting in negative reactions in the form of physical, emotional, behavioral, or cognitive responses. This study aims to determine the relationship between social comparison and perceptions of parental expectations with academic stress in students of SMAN 2 Semarang. The research method used was quantitative with a sample size of 391 students. The sampling method used purposive sampling with the criteria of class XII subjects. Data collection method used three scales, namely Student Life Stress Inventory (SLSI) (α=0.903), IOWA Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure (INCOM) (α=0.848) and Perception of Parental Expectation Inventory (PPEI) (α=0.892). Data analysis used multiple linier regression analysis and partial correlation. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between social comparison and perception of parental expectation with academic stress, R=0.292 and F count=48.289 (p<0.05). Furthermore, there is a positive relationship between social comparison and academic stress rx1y=0.518 (p<0.05). Then there is also a positive relationship between perceptions of parental expectations with academic stress rx2y=0.253 (p<0.05).

Keywords : Academic stress, social comparison, parental expectations