Big-Fish--Little-Pond effect on academic self-concept: A cross-cultural (26-country) test of the negative effects of academically selective schools.

Herbert W. Marsh · Kit‐Tai Hau

719 citations0/0 files storedAmerican Psychologist

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Education, Achievement, and Giftedness Early Childhood Education and Development School Choice and Performance

Abstract

Academically selective schools are intended to affect academic self-concept positively, but theoretical and empirical research demonstrates that the effects are negative. The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE), an application of social comparison theory to educational settings, posits that a student will have a lower academic self-concept in an academically selective school than in a nonselective school. This study, the largest cross-cultural study of the BFLPE ever undertaken, tested theoretical predictions for nationally representative samples of approximately 4,000 15-year-olds from each of 26 countries (N = 103,558) who completed the same self-concept instrument and achievement tests. Consistent with the BFLPE, the effects of school-average achievement were negative in all 26 countries (M beta = -.20, SD = .08), demonstrating the BFLPE's cross-cultural generalizability.

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1985Stress, appraisal, and coping 2013Stress: Appraisal and Coping 1891The Principles of Psychology 1954A Theory of Social Comparison Processes 2001Relationship of core self-evaluations traits—self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability—with job satisfaction and job performance: A meta-analysis.1981Downward comparison principles in social psychology.1982Psychological perspectives on the self 1988Toward a Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model of Social Behavior

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