Big-fish-little-pond Effect Research Articles

Tests of moderation of the big-fish-little-pond effect across students with and without special educational needs in regular versus special education schools

BackgroundInclusive education has become increasingly popular based on the assumption that it has multiple benefits for students with special educational needs (SEN). However, contradictions remain regarding the widespread nature of these benefits, particularly when it comes to academic motivation. AimsIn this large-scale cross-sectional study, we relied on the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect (BFLPE) to assess the links between inclusive education and students’ academic self-concepts and learning interests in the mathematics and verbal domains. SampleThe sample consisted of 21,219 German elementary school children in Grade 4 who were enrolled in three groups: students without SEN attending regular schools (n1 = 19,069), students with SEN attending regular schools (n2 = 933), and students with SEN attending special education schools (n3 = 1214). MethodsDoubly latent multi-group multilevel structural equation models and tests of latent interaction were performed to test the BFLPE. ResultsResults supported the BFLPE for both outcomes and domains. However, no BFLPE was identified for learning interest in the verbal domain among students with SEN attending special education schools, although the size of this effect did not differ significantly from that observed among students without SEN. In regular schools, the BFLPE was almost two times stronger among students with SEN than among their peers without SEN. ConclusionsResults support the generalizability of the BFLPE to students with SEN, while casting doubts on the motivational benefits of inclusive education for these students. Interventions targeted at attenuating the BFLPE should thus be tailored for both regular and special education schools.

Is the clique a pond? The big-fish-little-pond effect and the relative meaning of clique and classroom

BackgroundAcademic self-concept (ASC) is a key predictor of learning behaviors and educational outcomes. In adolescence, the evaluation of academic abilities is mainly shaped by the social environment and comparisons with various reference groups. The effect of making social comparisons with the academic achievement of a reference group is known as the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE). AimsBased on social comparison theory and the local dominance effect (LDE), the present study aimed to investigate a pivotal adolescent reference group beside the classroom: the clique. We investigated to what extent students’ social comparison with the mathematics achievement of clique members was related to the ASC of individual students more than general classroom comparisons. SampleThe sample comprised 743 German secondary students in sixth and eighth grade (93 cliques in 40 classrooms). MethodsWe estimated a three-level structural equation model using data from a two-wave longitudinal study in one school year. The change in students’ ASC was determined using latent change modeling. ResultsThe average academic achievement of the clique negatively predicted ASC development. Classroom academic achievement had no effect. ConclusionsThe results underline the importance of informal peer groups like cliques as important reference groups for social comparisons and ASC development during adolescence.

Being a big fish in a little pond: student group composition, perceived academic standing, and young people’s academic self-concept

Upper secondary school students with a strong academic self-concept are more likely to complete their studies and thus increase their well-being in the future. Previous research on the big-fish-little-pond-effect (BFLPE) has thoroughly established the negative contrast effect of average group academic achievement on students’ academic self-concept. Many of these studies have been criticised for assuming the underlying social comparison without testing it. Here, survey and registered data from 1,047 Icelandic adolescents are used to explore the role of social comparison in the BFLPE. Models of hierarchical regression showed that students’ ideas about their relative position within their group of students mediated the effect of group average achievement on academic self-concept. This strengthens the assumption of social comparison being the underlying factor of the BFLPE. No assimilation effect between the type of school and academic self-concept was found. Implications for educators, school authorities, and policymakers are discussed.

The Effects of Homogeneous Grouping on Gifted Students: A Systematic Literature Review

Introduction: Homogeneous grouping strategies are among the basic interventions for gifted education. Although the academic advantages of these interventions have been frequently documented, concerns about their possible psycho-social negative effects can sometimes lead to cautious approaches to their implementation. In this regard, the main objective of the present study was determined as examining the relationship between homogeneous grouping strategies and the academic and psycho-social characteristics of gifted students. Method: The current study is a systematic literature review. Empirical resources investigating the effects of grouping strategies implemented in the formal education processes of gifted students were included in the study. Either gifted students of compulsory education age (primary, secondary, and high school) or gifted individuals whose experiences at compulsory education age were focused on were the participants of the included studies. Eighteen studies identified in line with the inclusion criteria were included in the systematic literature review. The effects of homogeneous grouping were examined under the themes of academic effects and psycho-social effects. Findings: The findings of the systematic literature review demonstrate that implementing homogeneous grouping strategies in gifted education has academically positive but psycho-socially complex (positive and/or negative or neutral) effects. Discussion: The fact that educational arrangements for characteristics that differentiate gifted students from their peers are associated with positive academic outcomes is consistent with the relevant literature. The psycho-social effects of the homogeneous grouping of gifted students are usually related to self-concept, and most of the research findings included are consistent with the big fish-little pond effect.

An experimental test of the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect using an immersive virtual reality classroom

Academic self-concept plays a central role in successful learning and is substantially shaped by social comparisons. Research on the so-called Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect (BFLPE) has yielded a highly robust and generalizable pattern of negative effects of higher class/school average achievement on students’ self-concept when controlling for individual achievement. However, most BFLPE studies have not provided information about the causes behind or the mechanisms underlying the proposed effects. To address this, we used a fully immersive virtual reality (IVR) classroom to experimentally test the extent to which students recognized performance-related classroom behavior as implicit social comparison information and how these perceptions explained differences in students’ self-concepts. Participants (N = 381 sixth-grade students) experienced an authentic yet standardized IVR teaching situation with virtual classmates who exhibited different performance levels (operationalized as 20% vs. 35% vs. 65% vs. 80% of classmates raising their hands). Hand-raising behavior had a significant positive effect on students’ perceptions of the class’ performance level (d20% vs. 65% = 0.60; d20% vs. 80% = 1.24). In line with the BFLPE, results showed a negative effect of higher performing classmates on students’ situational self-concept (d20% vs. 80% = 0.30). Students’ perceptions of the class’ performance level fully explained the effect of classmates’ hand-raising behavior on students’ situational self-concept. The study’s experimental approach provided new insights into the emergence of social comparison effects in the classroom, highlighting the major role of students’ perceptions of their classmates’ performance-related behavior, and moreover demonstrated the general potential of using IVR in classroom research.

Empathic forecasting of the big-fish-little-pond effect

ABSTRACT The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) is the tendency for students to evaluate themselves more favourably when they have high rank in a low rank school than low rank in a high rank school. Research has documented the BFLPE on experienced emotions. We conducted three studies that examined forecasts of how the BFLPE influences other people’s emotions (i.e. empathic forecasts). In Study 1, participants received performance feedback about themselves or another person and reported their own affect or anticipated the other person’s affect. Results extended the BFLPE to empathic forecasting. Moreover, forecasters anticipated that the BFLPE had a stronger influence on negative emotion than it actually did. Study 2 tested whether neglect of group rank underlies the BFLPE in empathic forecasting. Empathic forecasts were strongly influenced by another person’s rank in their group, but only weakly influenced by group rank. Study 3 tested whether extremity of group ranks exacerbates the BFLPE in empathic forecasting. Empathic forecasts were especially favourable (unfavourable) when a target had very high (low) rank in a very low (high) rank group. These data support the BFLPE in empathic forecasting, but also illustrate ways in which it is both similar to and different from actual experience of the effect.

Moderators of the big‐fish‐little‐pond effect in educational settings: A scoping review

AbstractThe big‐fish‐little‐pond effect (BFLPE) is the tendency for students to evaluate themselves more favorably when they have high rank in a low rank school than low rank in a high rank school. In this scoping review, we evaluate evidence for several student and teacher factors that have been tested as moderators of the BFLPE. Our synthesis provides initial evidence suggesting that the BFLPE may be stronger for students who are older, reside in WEIRD societies (with some exceptions), female (when tested in the science domain), low in narcissism, and high in neuroticism. Additionally, our synthesis suggests that the effect is weaker when students have positive relationships with their teachers and receive differentiated instruction. We did not find a strong or consistent pattern of moderation when examining student ability, student achievement goals, teacher grading practices, or teacher frame of reference. We conclude by highlighting limitations of the extant literature, moderators that appear most fruitful for additional research, and promising social‐psychological factors that have yet to be tested as moderators of the BFLPE.

Conformity or contrast? Simultaneous effect of grademates and classmates on students’ educational aspirations

This study examines the relationship between peers' cognitive abilities and students' educational aspirations. The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) predicts that compared with equally able counterparts, students tend to have higher educational aspirations when the average ability of their surrounding peers is relatively low. Meanwhile, the local dominance effect claims that the association changes between educational aspirations and peers' ability from relatively local to relatively distant peers; closer distance leads to stronger associations. In addition, some empirical findings contradict the notion that students' aspirations are positively associated with their high-achieving classmates. This study combines the BFLPE and local dominance effect into one theoretical framework and explores whether the “higher aspiration-inferior peers” hypothesis stands at the class and grade levels. Using data from the 2014–2015 China Education Panel Survey and employing multilevel regression modeling, this study finds opposite associations in class and grade. The findings indicate that when classmates' cognitive ability is controlled, students feel negative pressure from their grademates. Better performance exhibited by their grademates results in their relatively low educational aspirations. However, at the class level, the negative correlation by peer comparison with excellent classmates is offset by positive associations brought about by these peers. The findings of this study support the hypotheses that students' educational aspirations are positively correlated with their peers’ cognitive abilities as long as their local peers are relatively high achievers, and their distant peers are relatively low achievers.

The regional big-fish-little-pond effect: Evidence from national and subnational comparisons.

According to the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE), students evaluate themselves more favourably when they have a high rank in a low-rank school than a low rank in a high-rank school. We examined whether the BFLPE impacts self-evaluations in regional settings, where the reference group is one's nation or subnation. In Study 1, participants told that they ranked above average in a below-average nation evaluated themselves more favourably than participants told that they ranked below average in an above-average nation. Study 2 demonstrated that this regional BFLPE occurs both when the reference group is one's nation (USA) and one's subnation (e.g. California, Florida). Finally, Study 3 found that the BFLPE occurs and is similar in size when the reference group is one's nation versus one's school. In sum, these experiments provide novel support for the BFLPE in regional contexts and suggest that social comparisons that involve regional groups substantially impact self-evaluations.

Contextual effects on students’ achievement and academic self-concept in the Nordic and Chinese educational systems

BackgroundThe current study investigates school contextual effects on students’ academic self-concept and achievement, that is, peer socioeconomic effect and big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE), in four Nordic education systems (i.e., Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) and selected Chinese education systems (Hong Kong and Beijing-Shanghai-Jiangsu-Zhejiang). The two school contextual effects are studied simultaneously to negate the confounding effects of student and school socioeconomic status (SES), academic self-concept and academic achievement. The study focuses on the following research questions:Are there differences in the between-school variation in school SES composition, academic self-concept and reading literacy across the Nordic and selected Chinese education systems?What are the sizes of peer SES and BFLPE in the Nordic and Chinese education systems?Are there any differences that can be observed between the 2000 and 2018 data for the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in the first two questions for Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and Hong Kong?MethodsUsing PISA 2000 and 2018 data from Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Hong Kong and Beijing-Shanghai-Jiangsu-Zhejiang (in 2018 only), a multiple-group two-level structural equation modelling was applied to estimate the school contextual effect.ResultsThe current study indicated that school academic and socioeconomic segregation intensified over the two decades in most of the studied countries. This finding lays the groundwork for understanding the two schools’ contextual effects. School SES compositions positively affected students’ academic achievement, while average school achievement negatively affected students’ academic self-concept. Given that students’ academic and socioeconomic composition has become more homogeneous within schools, the contextual effects were more pronounced. However, variations across diverse education systems were also notable.ConclusionsThe current study adds evidence of the school contextual effects regarding the peer SES effects and robustness of the BFLPE, considering the nested structure of the data and diverse cultural milieu. We argue that these diversities reflect the varying extent to which educational reforms were introduced in different countries, here as oriented to marketisation, privatisation and choice. These reform actions have changed the composition of students at schools and school culture, which moulds individual students’ cognitive and noncognitive development.

The Role of Early-Career University Prestige Stratification on the Future Academic Performance of Scholars

This paper investigates the effect of university prestige stratification on scholars’ career achievements. We focus on 766 STEM PhD graduates hired by Mexican universities between 1992 and 2016. We rank university according to their prestige based on the pairwise assessment of quality contained in the PhD hiring networks. Further, we use a quasi-experimental design matching pairs of individuals with the same characteristics, PhD training or first job experience. Our results challenge the positive association between prestige and academic performance as predicted by the ‘Matthew effect’. Scholars hired internally sustain higher performance over their careers in comparison to those who move up or down the prestige hierarchy. Further, we find a positive (negative) relation between downward (upward) prestige mobility and performance that relates to the “big-fish-little-pond” effect (BFLPE). The evidence of a BFLPE-like effect has policy implications because hinders the knowledge flows throughout the science system and individual achievements.

Can teachers’ need-supportive practices moderate the big-fish-little-pond effect? A quasi-experimental study with elementary school children

The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) describes a multilevel phenomenon via which class-average levels of achievement act as a negative predictor of students’ academic self-concept (ASC), although their individual achievement level acts as a positive predictor of their ASC. In this quasi-experimental pretest–posttest study, we posited that a professional development program for teachers based on self-determination theory would moderate the BFLPE on French writing ASC among elementary school students. To test our hypothesis, we relied on three groups of students (n = 189–394) who were exposed to teachers who participated in the program at different moments, and one group of students (n = 190) who were exposed to teachers who did not participate in any professional development program. Doubly latent multilevel analyses were used to test the moderation hypothesis. At posttest, we observed a significant BFLPE for the control students while no significant BFLPE was observed for the other groups of students. These results suggest that this professional development program was able to protect students against the BFLPE. Promoting a learning context supportive of students’ psychological needs thus seem able to reduce the salience of social comparison processes involving the achievement levels of the whole class by reinforcing the focus on students’ own learning experiences. These results support previous research suggesting that positive teacher-student relationships might moderate the BFLPE. Finally, our findings provide insights regarding the pedagogical practices that can attenuate the negative effect of class-average levels of achievement on students’ writing ASC.

Parental Evaluation of the Socio-Personal Adjustment of High Ability Students in a Cluster Grouping Program.

High ability students have differential cognitive characteristics that require a specific educational response to develop their full potential. Cluster ability grouping is one of the available approaches to respond to their training. One of the main criticisms of this teaching method, also supported by the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE), is that high ability students may show a decrease in their self-concept. The aim of this research is to present the evaluation carried out by parents of primary school high ability students on the effect of an educational cluster grouping program on their personal and social adjustment, comparing these variables before the beginning of the school year and at the end of it. Approximately 100 students’ parents of the Educational Centre for Highly Ability Pupils participated in the evaluation. The instrument used for the evaluation was the Socialization Battery (BAS-2) for parents. The results showed that parents observed some improvements, either due to an increase in the scales measuring positive socialization variables or a decrease in the scales measuring negative socialization variables. The most substantial improvements are found in the second and third grades. We conclude that the results do not support the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE).

Big fish in a big pond: Peer effects on university students’ academic self-concept

The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) has been proved by numerous studies. However, few researchers have focused on university students, particularly gifted students in elite universities (big fish in the big pond). This study adopted a two-level linear model to discuss the BFLPE on talented students in an elite university through a longitudinal survey involving two waves ( n = 1073). The results indicated that peer achievements had negative effects on the ASC of competent students in the elite university. Additionally, student–faculty interactions and university support had remarkable effects on ASC, despite students’ personal achievements. This study contributes toward enriching the BFLPE research framework and encouraging more researchers to focus on university students’ ASC, not limited to intelligent students in elite universities. Furthermore, the study provides an example of minimal research for building hierarchical linear models. Finally, the findings of the study can help elite students build a positive ASC in elite universities.

Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect on Gifted Students’ Academic Self-Concepts: What If the Big Fish has Adaptable Academic Self-Concepts?

According to the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE), equally able students would have lower academic self-concepts in high-ability settings than those who attend low- or mixed-ability settings. This study was an investigation of the BFLPE on math and science academic self-concepts of gifted students. Participants included 50 fifth- and sixth-grade gifted students who participated in an after-school program for gifted students (EPTS) at a university campus for five terms. Students’ academic self-concepts were measured using the Math and Science Academic Self-Concept Questionnaire both in the EPTS setting and in the school setting in three measurement points. Findings showed that gifted students’ academic self-concepts declined significantly from time 1 measurement to time 3 measurement. However, the level of their academic self-concepts was still high in the EPTS and very high in school. The main effect of setting showed that the overall academic self-concept in school ( M = 34,24; SD = 2,26) was significantly higher than the mean of academic self-concepts in the EPTS ( M = 31,49; SD = 3,87). They used the EPTS and school as two different frames of reference and thus held adaptable academic self-concepts, relatively low in the EPTS and relatively high in school.

Integrating the big-fish-little-pond effect, the basking-in-reflected-glory effect, and the internal/external frame of reference model predicting students’ individual and collective academic self-concepts

The present research is the first to integrate three major theories of academic self-concept formation into one framework: the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE), the basking-in-reflected-glory effect (BIRGE), and the internal/external frame of reference (I/E) model. For separating the BFLPE and the BIRGE, we introduced students’ collective self-concepts, defined as their perceptions of domain-specific abilities of their group (e.g., their class). We tested our newly developed model, predicting students’ math and verbal self-concepts, in the field (N = 2,001 students from 110 classes) and in the laboratory (N = 315 students in groups of three). In both studies, we found support for (1) the BFLPE (i.e., negative effects of group-average achievements on individual self-concepts within domains), (2) the BIRGE (i.e., positive effects of collective self-concepts on individual self-concepts within domains), and (3) the I/E model (i.e., positive/negative effects of individual achievements on individual self-concepts within/between domains). Moreover, for the first time, we have largely replicated the I/E model relations for predicting students’ collective self-concepts by their group-average achievements. Interestingly, the BIRGE exceeded the BFLPE in both studies. This finding demonstrates the high suitability of collective self-concepts for operationalizing the BIRGE. Overall, our findings substantially enhance our knowledge of the cognitive processes involved in students’ self-concept formation.

Moderation of the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect: Juxtaposition of Evolutionary (Darwinian-Economic) and Achievement Motivation Theory Predictions Based on a Delphi Approach

The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE), the negative effect of school-/class-average achievement on academic self-concept, is one of educational psychology’s most universal findings. However, critiques of this research have proposed moderators based on achievement motivation theories. Nevertheless, because these motivational theories are not sufficiently well-developed to provide unambiguous predictions concerning moderation of the BFLPE and underlying social comparison processes, we developed a Theory-Integrating Approach; bringing together a panel of experts, independently making theoretical predictions, revising the predictions over several rounds based on independent feedback from the other experts, and a summary of results. We pit a priori hypotheses derived from achievement motivation theories against the more parsimonious a priori prediction that there is no moderation based on previous BFLPE empirical research and Darwinian-economic theory (N = 1,925 Hong Kong students, 47 classes, M age = 12 years). Consistent with both BFLPE research and Darwinian perspectives, but in contrast to achievement motivation theory predictions, the highly significant BFLPE was not moderated by any of the following: prior achievement, expectancy-value theory variables, achievement goals, implicit theories of ability, self-regulated learning strategies, and social interdependence theory measures. Although we cannot “prove” that there are no student-level moderators of the BFLPE, our synthesis of social comparison posited in the BFLPE theory and an evolutionary perspective support BFLPE’s generalizability. We propose further integration of our Theory-Integrating Approach with traditional Delphi methods, combining quantitative and qualitative approaches to develop a priori theoretical predictions and identify limitations in existing theory as an alternative form of systematic review.

Investigating the Association between the Big Fish Little Pond Effect and Grading on a Curve: A Large-Scale Quasi-Experimental Study

Equally able students have a lower academic self-concept in high-achieving classrooms, the big fish little pond effect (BFLPE). Grading on a curve—providing the best grades to the best students in the class and the worst grades to the worst students—has been speculated to contribute to the BFLPE. However, empirical evidence for this assumption is not conclusive as it stems from correlational studies. We tested the association between the BFLPE and grading on a curve with a natural experiment from the 1970s in which Swedish municipalities were free to abolish grading (N = 9,104). The BFLPE did not differ between nongraded and graded students. Our results suggest that students engage in social comparisons independent of whether or not they are graded.

Does school average achievement explain the effect of socioeconomic status on math and reading interest? A test of the Information Distortion Model

Based on the Information Distortion Model (IDM), we hypothesized higher academic interest among low socioeconomic (SES) Australian children compared to equally able high SES Australian children. We extend the IDM in two ways. First, the IDM is a model of school selection and thus empirical evidence of its effect needs to come from a model that controls for achievement prior to school selection. Second, the mechanism of the IDM is presumed to be the big-fish-little-pond-effect (BFLPE), which has not been tested. We used a longitudinal representative sample of first-year high-school students (age ~12, N = 2507). We linked student high-school survey data to the whole of school and individual student administrative records of achievement from high-stakes national standardized tests in elementary and high-school. Our results were consistent with IDM for math interest but more mixed for reading interest, suggesting that additional processes may be in operation.

When Large-Scale Assessments Meet Data Science: The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect in Fourth- and Eighth-Grade Mathematics Across Nations.

The programming language of R has useful data science tools that can automate analysis of large-scale educational assessment data such as those available from the United States Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). This study used three R packages: EdSurvey, MplusAutomation, and tidyverse to examine the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) in 56 countries in fourth grade and 46 countries in eighth grade for the subject of mathematics with data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015. The BFLPE refers to the phenomenon that students in higher-achieving contexts tend to have lower self-concept than similarly able students in lower-achieving contexts due to social comparison. In this study, it is used as a substantive theory to illustrate the implementation of data science tools to carry out large-scale cross-national analysis. For each country and grade, two statistical models were applied for cross-level measurement invariance testing, and for testing the BFLPE, respectively. The first model was a multilevel confirmatory factor analysis for the measurement of mathematics self-concept using three items. The second model was multilevel latent variable modeling that decomposed the effect of achievement on self-concept into between and within components; the difference between them was the contextual effect of the BFLPE. The BFLPE was found in 51 of the 56 countries in fourth grade and 44 of the 46 countries in eighth grade. The study provides syntax and discusses problems encountered while using the tools for modeling and processing of modeling results.