Hans Kuyper

When better-than-others compare upward: Choice of comparison and comparative evaluation as independent predictors of academic performance

Social comparison theory has linked improved performance to both the tendency to compare with others who are performing well and the tendency to view the self as better than others. However, little research has investigated the effects of either variable outside of a controlled laboratory environment, Moreover, there is reason to believe that the 2 tendencies would be in opposition to one another, because people who compare upward might subsequently view themselves as relatively less competent. The results of a longitudinal study of 876 students in their Ist year of secondary education indicated that both variables independently predicted improved academic performance and that these 2 tendencies did not conflict.

Social Comparison in the Classroom: A Review

This article reviews research conducted on social comparison processes in the classroom since Festinger proposed his theory of social comparison. It covers the theoretical framework of social comparison theory, and it is organized around the following themes: motives for social comparison, dimensions of social comparison, direction of social comparison, and consequences of social comparison. The overall picture is an emerging one in which pupils prefer to compare their performances upward—specifically, with pupils who perform better than themselves but who resemble themselves on related and unrelated attributes. Although the magnitude of the effects of social comparison in the classroom is not examined, the review suggests that such upward comparisons not only lead pupils to perform better but evoke negative affect and lower academic self-concept. Topics discussed include inconsistencies (especially with regard to the direction of comparison and the motives underlying social comparison in the classroom), practical implications, and directions for future research.

In search of the big fish: Investigating the coexistence of the big-fish-little-pond effect with the positive effects of upward comparisons

Blanton, Buunk, Gibbons, and Kuyper (1999) and Huguet, Dumas, Monteil, and Genestoux (2001) found that children nominated a social comparison target who slightly outperformed them in class with a beneficial effect on course grades - an assimilation effect, but with no effects on self-evaluation. However, big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) research has shown that attending a high-ability school has a negative effect on academic self-concept--a contrast effect. To resolve this apparent conflict, the present investigation (1) tested the BFLPE in the Netherlands and France, using nationally representative samples (Study 1) and (2) further analysed (using more sophisticated analyses) the Dutch (Blanton et al.) study (Study 2) and the French (Huguet et al.) study including new French data (Study 3), to examine whether the BFLPE coexisted with, or was moderated by, the beneficial impact of upward comparisons. In support of the BFLPE, all studies found the negative effects of school- or class-average ability on self-evaluation, demonstrating that these assimilation and contrast effects can coexist.

Affective Response to Social Comparison in the Classroom

In a study among 609 secondary school students, the affective reactions to social comparisons of grades were examined. Overall, the students reported more frequent responses to upward than to downward comparison, more identification than contrast in their comparisons, and more frequent responses implying a self-focus than an other-focus. The most frequent response was self-focused identification with an upward comparison target, that is, the hope that one might in the future receive a good grade similar to that of the target. In general, girls showed more altruistic and empathic responses, and boys more egocentric and hostile responses to social comparison. Those with a low performance level responded more often to downward comparison with the fear that they would receive a similar low grade on a next test.

Effective Students and Families: The Importance of Individual Characteristics for Achievement in High School

The school careers in secondary education are influenced by individual and environmental characteristics. Using longitudinal data on 7,000 students from 450 classes in 150 schools in The Netherlands, we present results on the importance of student and family characteristics for achievement (text comprehension and mathematics combined in a multivariate multilevel model) in high school. The main question is: To what extent do characteristics at the individual level influence the achievement of students in the 3rd year of secondary education? In order to answer this question, we use a structure of concentric circles. The achievement of students on text comprehension and mathematics appears to be determined by both structural and cultural characteristics. Student characteristics account for more variance than family characteristics.

Predicting Peer Acceptance in Dutch Youth A Multilevel Analysis

This article uses an ecological approach to predict students’ peer acceptance within junior high school classes. The authors investigate whether various characteristics (self-perception of physical attractiveness and athletic competence, cognitive ability, agreeableness, extraversion, age, parents’ education, number of siblings, siblings at same school, parental control, percentage of classmates who attended the same primary school, ethnicity) predict peer acceptance and whether effects are consistent across classes. Participants are 6,847 students (±13 years) from 461 classes in the Netherlands. Girls’ and boys’ data are analyzed separately using multilevel analyses. Extraversion and the percentage of classmates from the same primary school are the strongest predictors of peer acceptance for boys and girls. Smaller effects are observed for self-perception of athletic competence (boys and girls), agreeableness (girls), and ethnicity (boys). The effects are consistent across classes. The need for more complex models of peer acceptance is discussed.

Contrasting risk judgments among interest groups

Abstract Judgments of risk and benefit concerning hazardous materials were obtained from six groups of respondents having a different kind of Interest (Direct, Indirect or Adverse) in, and either a high or a low degree of Decisional Power with respect to the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) as a car fuel. Some 220 subjects made pairwise similarity judgments of ten different activities, three of which explicitly concerned LPG, whereafter they rated the same stimuli on 11 decisional attribute scales. As predicted, subjects having a Direct Interest judged the three LPG stimuli as generally more favorable than did the other groups. After a multidimensional scaling analysis of each subjects similarity judgments individual ‘saliency’ scores were obtained for the various decisional attributes by fitting a subjects attribute ratings into his own two-dimensional similarity space. Among other things it was found that the attributes ‘catastrophic potential’ and ‘large-scaleness’ (a dummy) were less salient to the Direct Interest groups than to the other groups, whereas a dummy attribute ‘LPG vs not LPG’ was more salient. Apparently, the kind of interest someone has in a particular set of activities significantly influences his or her way of conceptualizing and judging these activities in terms of relevant decisional attributes. Degree of decisional power may do so too, but to a lesser extent. A methodological conclusion is that aggregate multivariate analyses tend to obscure factors in risk judgment that individualized analyses clearly reveal to play an important role.

Who succeeds in advanced mathematics and science courses

Few students (particularly few girls) currently choose to take their Final School Examination (FSE) in advanced mathematics, chemistry and physics, a combination of subjects that is the best preparation for a science-oriented study in higher education. Are these subjects attainable by more students than is currently the case? This study examined 6033 students in upper secondary education, including 720 students who took their FSE in advanced mathematics, chemistry and physics. The results show that the latter group (and in particular the girls in that group) had higher scores on math ability than students who chose other examination subjects. Regression analyses demonstrated the relative importance of math ability and achievement motivation for attainment in these science subjects. However, an expected positive effect of homework time as well as possible mediating and moderating effects of the predictors could not be confirmed.

The Amsterdam Executive Function Inventory (AEFI): psychometric properties and demographically-corrected normative data for adolescents aged between 15 and 18 years

The Amsterdam Executive Function Inventory (AEFI) is a newly developed brief self-report questionnaire to assess three important components of the executive aspects of daily-life behavior—that is, Attention, Self-Control and Self-Monitoring, and Planning and Initiative. In a population-based study, the AEFI was administered to N = 6,730 Dutch adolescents aged between 15 and 18 years. Psychometric analyses showed that the construct validity and the reliability of the AEFI were adequate. Educational level and gender affected the different AEFI scale scores. Regression-based normative data that took these demographic influences into account were established, so that the AEFI can be used by clinicians and researchers who need to assess executive aspects of daily-life behavior.

Personality as a Moderator of Context Effects on Academic Achievement.

We investigated whether personality moderates group influence of classmates on academic achievement and whether these so-called context effects can be attributed to peer pressure. The sample consisted of 2498 students in their first year of Dutch secondary education. The data were analyzed by a two-level (students within classes) analysis, separately for boys (n=1033, in 92 classes) and girls (n=1465, in 119 classes). For both sexes, we found a context effect on Dutch language achievement but not on mathematics achievement. Emotional Stability appeared a moderator of this context effect but for girls only. The results suggest further that peer pressure is not a likely mechanism of group influence of classmates on academic achievement.