Big-fish-little-pond effect on academic self-concept. A cross-cultural (26-country) test of the negative effects of academically selective schools.
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.
Marsh
Herbert W
HW
SELF Research Centre, University of Western Sydney, Bankstown Campus, Penrith, New South Wales 1797, Australia. h.marsh@uws.edu.au
Hau
Kit-Tai
KT
D000293:Adolescent; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D013334:Students