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Clarifying the role of social comparison in the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE): An integrative study

Pascal Huguet 1 Florence Dumas 2, 1 Herbert Marsh 3 Isabelle Regner 1 Ladd Wheeler 4 Jerry Suls 5 Marjorie Seaton 6 John Nezlek 7
1 LPC - Laboratoire de psychologie cognitive
2 UJML - Université Jean Moulin - Lyon 3
3 University of Oxford [Oxford]
4 Macquarie University
5 University of Iowa [Iowa City]
6 UWS - Western Sydney University
7 WM - College of William and Mary [Williamsburg]
Abstract : It has been speculated that the big-fish–little-pond effect (BFLPE; the negative impact of highly selective academic settings on academic self-concept) is a consequence of invidious social comparisons experienced in higher ability schools. However, the direct role of such comparisons for the BFLPE has not heretofore been documented. The present study comprises the first evidence that the BFLPE (a) is eliminated after controlling for students' invidious comparisons with their class and (b) coexists with the assimilative and contrastive effects of upward social comparison choices on academic self-concept. These results increase understanding of the BFLPE and offer support for integrative approaches of social comparison (selective accessibility and interpretation comparison models) in a natural setting. They also lend support for the distinction between forced and deliberate social comparisons and the usefulness of distinguishing between absolute and relative comparison-level choice in self-assessment.
Keywords : social comparison academic self-concept big-fish–little-pond effect
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Pascal Huguet, Florence Dumas, Herbert Marsh, Isabelle Regner, Ladd Wheeler, et al.. Clarifying the role of social comparison in the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE): An integrative study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, American Psychological Association, 2009, 97 (1), pp.156 - 170. ⟨10.1037/a0015558⟩. ⟨hal-01472529⟩

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