The big-fish-little-pond effect: Generalizability of social comparison processes over two age cohorts from Western, Asian, and Middle Eastern Islamic countries.

Abstract

Extensive support for the seemingly paradoxical negative effects of school-and class-average achievement on academic self-concept (ASC)-the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE)-is based largely on secondary stu dents in Western countries or on cross-cultural Program for International Student Assessment studies. There is little research testing the generalizability of this frame of reference effect based on social comparison theory to primary school students and or to matched samples of primary and secondary students from different countries. Using multigroup-multilevel latent variable models, we found support for developmental and cross-cultural generalizability of the BFLPE based on Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study data; positive effects of individual student achievement and the negative effects of class-average achievement on ASC were significant for each of the 26 groups (nationally representative samples of 4th-and 8th-grade students from 13 diverse countries; 117,321 students from 6,499 classes).Keywords: big-fish-little-pond effect, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, frame of reference effects, contextual effects, doubly-latent multilevel models Supplemental materials: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037485.supp Self-concept, dating back to at least the seminal work by William James (1890/1963), is one of the oldest and most important constructs in the social sciences. Today positive self-beliefs are also at the heart of a positive revolution sweeping psychology, which emphasizes focusing on how healthy, normal, and exceptional individuals can get

Classroom effect on primary school students’ self-concept in literacy and mathematics

“…While there is currently some evidence that supports the assumption of negative BFLP effect already in the primary school context, more research is needed to establish whether these findings could be replicated in other educational systems. Furthermore, previous findings by Marsh et al (2015) suggest replications of the BFLP effect would be especially relevant in Nordic countries where the effect might be different if compared to other Western countries. Thus, in the present study, data from students in grade 3 (age 9), grade 4 (age 10), and grade 6 (age 12) were used to examine whether the assumptions of the BFLP effect model already hold during the primary school years in Finland.…”

“…These studies have shown a particularly strong negative effect of classroom performance among all students attending academically selective schools or classes (Marsh and Hau 2003). The BFLP effect model has seldom been studied in nonselective educational settings, and more specifically, only a few researchers (Guo et al 2018;Marsh et al 2015;Pinxten et al 2015) have studied it in nonselective primary school systems, in which the present study was conducted.…”

“…First, the BFLP effect model has mostly been applied in the analysis of the effects of classes or schools on adolescents' or young adults' academic self-concept (e.g., Jonkmann et al 2012;Marsh and O'Mara 2010;Parker et al 2013;Trautwein et al 2006). There is surprisingly scant research testing the BFLP effect among younger primary school students, even though examination of the BFLP effect is particularly interesting with respect to these years when students' selfperception of their academic performance is being formed (see Guo et al 2018;Marsh et al 2015;Pinxten et al 2015;Thijs et al 2010;Trautwein et al 2008;Wouters et al 2013). Fig.…”

“…In a Belgian study by Pinxten et al (2015), strong negative correlations were documented between class-average performance in math and literacy and academic self-concept in these subjects already in grade 4. Marsh et al (2015) investigated evidence for negative classroom effect on students' selfconcept in mathematics by using data from fourth and eighth grade students in three Middle Eastern Islamic countries (Iran, Kuwait, and Tunisia), four Asian countries (Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore), and six Western countries (Australia, UK, Italy, Norway, Scotland, and the USA). They documented a positive effect of students' performance and a negative effect of class average performance on self-concept in mathematics in all countries in both age cohorts.…”

The big-fish–little-pond effect on academic self-concept: The moderating role of differentiated instruction and individual achievement

“…For example, Marsh, Chessor, Craven, and Roche (1995) showed that the BFLPE occurs in samples of children between 9 and 11 years old regardless of their sex, age, and initial ability. In a recent study conducted in a nationally representative sample of 4th-and 8th-grade students from 13 different countries comprising 117,321 students from 6499 classes (TIMSS study), Marsh et al(2014) demonstrated developmental and cross-cultural generalizability of the BFLPE on math self-concept. Based on these previous results and theory, we expected the BFLPE to be significant in this study comprising a sample of children between 8 and 11 years old.…”