Marjorie Seaton

Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect Generalizability and Moderation—Two Sides of the Same Coin

Research evidence for the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) has demonstrated that attending high-ability schools has a negative effect on academic self-concept. Utilizing multilevel modeling with the 2003 Program for International Student Assessment database, the present investigation evaluated the generalizability and robustness of the BFLPE across 16 individual student characteristics. The constructs examined covered two broad areas: academic self-regulation based on a theoretical framework proposed by Zimmerman and socioeconomic status. Statistically significant moderating effects emerged in both areas; however, in relation to the large sample (N = 265,180), many were considered small. It was concluded that the BFLPE was an extremely robust effect given that it was reasonably consistent across the specific constructs examined.

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.

The reciprocal relations between self-concept, motivation and achievement: juxtaposing academic self-concept and achievement goal orientations for mathematics success

Research suggests that motivated students and those with high academic self-concepts perform better academically. Although substantial evidence supports a reciprocal relation between academic self-concept and achievement, there is less evidence supporting a similar relation between achievement goal orientations and achievement. There is also a paucity of research testing the longitudinal relations between achievement goal orientations and academic self-concept with achievement. The present investigation aimed to contribute to addressing these limitations. The sample consisted of 2786 Australian high school students (ages 11–17) measured at four time waves six months apart. Separate models indicated reciprocal relations between mathematics self-concept and achievement and mathematics performance approach goal orientation and achievement. There was little evidence of reciprocal relations between a mastery approach goal orientation and achievement. Juxtaposing the variables, when all were included in a single model, only self-concept had significant reciprocal relationships with achievement.

If one goes up the other must come down: Examining ipsative relationships between math and English self-concept trajectories across high school

BACKGROUND The Internal-External frame of reference (IE) model suggests that as self-concept in one domain goes up (e.g., English) self-concept in other domains (e.g., mathematics) should go down (ipsative self-concept hypothesis). AIMS To our knowledge this assumption has not been tested. Testing this effect also provides a context for illustrating different approaches to the study of growth with longitudinal data. SAMPLE We use cohort sequential data from 2,781 of Year 7 to Year 11 Australian high school students followed across a total of 10 time waves 6 months apart. METHOD Three different approaches to testing the ipsative self-concept hypothesis were used: Autoregressive cross-lagged models, latent growth curve models, and autoregressive latent trajectory models (ALT); using achievement as a time varying covariate. RESULTS Cross-lagged and growth curve models provided little evidence of ipsative relationships between English and math self-concept. However, ALT models suggested that a rise above trend in one self-concept domain resulted in a decline from trend in self-concept in another domain. CONCLUSION Implications for self-concept theory, interventions, and statistical methods for the study of growth are discussed.

The Big Fish Down Under: Examining Moderators of the "Big-Fish-Little-Pond" Effect for Australia's High Achievers.

Big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) research has demonstrated that academic self-concept is negatively affected by attending high-ability schools. This article examines data from large, representative samples of 15-year-olds from each Australian state, based on the three Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) databases that focus on different subject domains: reading (2000), mathematics (2003) and science (2006). The overarching research question is whether the size or direction of the BFLPE is moderated by any of a total of 67 moderators (for example ability, study methods, motive, social constructs and Australian states) that were considered. The data showed consistent support for the BFLPE across all Australian states for all three databases. None of the constructs examined moderated the BFLPE and this finding was consistent across states. In conclusion, the BFLPE is remarkably robust in Australia and the study findings generalised well across Australian states and across all moderators investigated.

Phantom Behavioral Assimilation Effects: Systematic Biases in Social Comparison Choice Studies

Consistent with social comparison theory (SCT), Blanton, Buunk, Gibbons, and Kuyper (1999) and Huguet, Dumas, Monteil, and Genestoux (2001) found that students tended to choose comparison targets who slightly outperformed them (i.e., upward comparison choices), and this had a beneficial effect on subsequent performance--a behavioral assimilation effect (BAE). We show (Studies 1 and 2) that this apparent BAE is due, in part, to uncontrolled measurement error in pretest achievement. However, using simulated data (Study 3), these phantom BAEs were eliminated with latent-variable models with multiple indicators. In Studies 4 and 5, latent-variable models were applied to the Blanton et al. and Huguet et al. data, resulting in substantially smaller but still significantly positive BAEs. More generally in personality research based on correlational data, failure to control measurement error in pretest/background variables will positively bias the apparent effects of personality variables of interest, but widely applicable approaches demonstrated here can correct for these biases.

The Reciprocal Effects Model Revisited Extending Its Reach to Gifted Students Attending Academically Selective Schools

The reciprocal effects model (REM) predicts a reciprocal relation between academic self-concept and academic achievement, whereby prior academic self-concept is associated with future gains in achievement, and prior achievement is related to subsequent academic self-concept. Although research in this area has been extensive, there has been a paucity of research specifically examining the REM from the standpoint of students who attend academically selective schools. The present research aimed to rectify this gap in the literature by testing the equivalence of the REM across a sample of high school students who attend both academically selective (n = 738) and mixed-ability comprehensive (n = 2,048) schools. Multigroup analyses revealed that the REM existed for both groups and that there were no differences between the groups in either the size or the direction of the paths that constitute the REM. Implications for REM theory and teaching practice are discussed.

Self-concept: From unidimensional to multidimensional and beyond

Self-concept is one of the oldest and most important constructs in the social sciences. It is also at the heart of the positive psychology revolution focusing on how healthy, normal, and exceptional individuals can get the most from life. We begin by distinguishing between an historical unidimensional perspective that focuses on self-esteem and a more recent multidimensional, hierarchical perspective that distinguishes between specific facets of self (e.g., academic, social, physical, and emotional). In this article we review developmental, educational, and personality perspectives of self-concept, gender differences, theoretical models, and empirical research on the reciprocal effects relating self-concept and performance, frame of reference effects based on social and dimensional comparisons that influence the formation of self-concept, and the juxtaposition between multidimensional perspectives of personality and self-concept.

Attitude to Non-Violence Scale: Validity and Practical Use:

This study used recent advances in attitude and self-perception research to develop an Attitude to Non-Violence Scale (ANVS). Participants were students from six high schools in Australia (N = 727). Confirmatory factor analysis using within-construct and between-construct validation approaches found two positive attitude sub-scales: Cognitive (proactive understanding) and Affective (do not endorse violence), both showing convergent and discriminant validity. Scale equivalence tests found that the sub-scales were applicable to boys and girls and to junior and senior grades. Structural equation modeling found that boys had less supportive attitudes to non-violence cognitively, whereas female students in senior secondary classes had less positive attitudes to non-violence affectively. The ANVS can be easily administered to assess youth’s non-violence attitudes, which may direct interventions focusing on boys’ cognitive aspects while maintaining girls’ positive affective attitudes toward non-violence as they mature. The positively framed instrument is suitable for education settings especially in high-risk locations where violence is prevalent.