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The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect for reading self-beliefs : A cross-national exploration with PISA 2018
Basarkod, Geetanjali Marsh, Herbert W. Guo, Jiesi Dicke, Theresa Xu, Kate Parker, Philip D.
Basarkod, Geetanjali
Marsh, Herbert W.
Guo, Jiesi
Dicke, Theresa
Xu, Kate
Parker, Philip D.
Abstract
Purpose
Past research shows the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect (BFLPE; negative effect of school-average achievement on student-level academic self-concept) to generalize across countries. However, such evidence is largely limited to math and science. Given that reading self-concept is highly differentiated from math and science self-concepts and plays an important role in predicting educational outcomes, it is essential to examine the universality of the BFLPE and its underlying social-comparison process within this domain.
Method
We assess the cross-national generalizability of the BFLPE for 15-year-olds’ reading self-concept using Programme for International Students Assessment 2018 (533,165 students, 72 countries). To demonstrate that the BFLPE operates with a relative—rather than absolute—frame of reference for comparison, we juxtapose difficulty experienced with reading in general (self-concept perceived difficulty; relative frame of reference), with difficulty experienced with reading specifically during the PISA test (PISA test difficulty; absolute frame of reference).
Results
Our findings show that the BFLPE for both the reading self-concept perceived competence and difficulty subscales was robust across countries. Further, the BFLPE was strong for self-concept subscales, but very weak for the PISA test difficulty scale.
Conclusions
Our findings extend support for the generalizability of the BFLPE to reading self-concept and highlight the role of social comparison processes underlying this effect.
Keywords
Date
2023
Type
Journal article
Journal
Book
Volume
27
Issue
4
Page Range
375-392
Article Number
ACU Department
Institute for Positive Psychology and Education
Faculty of Education and Arts
Faculty of Education and Arts
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access
Open