Endorsing achievement goals exacerbates the big-fish-little-pond effect on academic self-concept

The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) model predicts students’ academic self-concept to be negatively predicted by the achievement level of their reference group, controlling for individual achievement. Despite an abundance of empirical evidence supporting the BFLPE, there have been relatively few studies searching for possible moderators. Integrating the BFLPE model with Achievement Goal Theory, the present study aims to determine whether the negative effect of class-average achievement on academic self-concept is moderated by individual and class-average achievement goals. Our sample comprised of 2987 students (50% boys) from Grade 6 in 112 elementary schools in the Flemish region of Belgium (174 classes). Applying multilevel modelling, we found a stronger BFLPE when students’ individual achievement goals were higher, regardless of the specific nature of these goals. The BFLPE was not moderated by class-average levels of achievement goals. Overall, our findings demonstrate that the BFLPE is moderated by individual goal-related factors.     

Discriminant and incremental validity of self-concept and academic self-efficacy: a meta-analysis

Two studies examined the discriminant and incremental validity of self-concept and academic self-efficacy. Study 1, which meta-analysed 64 studies comprising 74 independent samples (N?=?24,773), found a strong mean correlation of .43 between self-concept and academic self-efficacy. The domains of self-concept and self-efficacy, and the domain matching between them, moderate the strength of the correlation between self-concept and academic self-efficacy. Global self-concept was associated with weaker correlations than were academic and subject-specific self-concept. Academic self-efficacy had higher incremental validity than self-concept. Study 2, which examined data-sets from Programme for International Student Assessment 2000, 2003 and 2006, found that the mean correlation ranged from .31 to 54. Self-concept sometimes had higher incremental validity than academic self-efficacy. The higher incremental validity of self-concept may result from the wording and domain of self-concept measure as well as specificity matching between self-concept and academic achievement.     

Academic self-efficacy and academic self-concept: Reconsidering structural relationships

The current study investigates (1) whether academic (e.g. math) self-efficacy and academic self-concept represent two conceptually and empirically distinct psychological constructs when studied within the same domain, (2) the nature of the relationship existing between both self-constructs, (3) their antecedents, and (4) their mediating and predictive qualities for background variables such as gender and prior knowledge and outcome variables such as math performance, math interest, and math anxiety. Results indicate that (1) math self-efficacy and math self-concept do indeed represent conceptually and empirically different constructs, even when studied within the same domain, (2) students' academic self-concept strongly influences their academic self-efficacy beliefs, (3) academic self-concept is a better predictor (and mediator) for affective–motivational variables, while academic self-efficacy is the better predictor (and mediator) for academic achievement. These findings underpin the conceptual and empirical differences between both self-constructs as suggested by Bong and Skaalvik [Bong, M., &; Skaalvik, E.M. (2003). Academic self-concept and self-efficacy: How different are they really?. Educational Psychology Review, 15, 1–40.].     

Social and dimensional comparison effects on academic self-concepts and self-perceptions of effort in elementary school children

By focusing on the domains of math and German, the present study with 200 elementary school children investigated the specific relationships of self-reported grades with academic self-concepts and self-perceptions of effort within the competence-affective separation of academic self-concepts. In addition, possible mediator effects of academic self-concepts were explored. In both domains, self-reported grades positively predicted academic self-concepts of corresponding domains, which, in turn, positively predicted self-perceptions of effort of corresponding domains. However, there were no negative cross-domain achievement effects on academic self-concepts and no negative cross-domain self-concept effects on self-perceptions of effort. Both academic self-concepts mediated the effects from self-reported grades to self-perceptions of effort in corresponding domains. This research indicates that children’s self-perceptions of effort can be inferred by their competence and affective self-concepts.

• Highlights

• Self-reported grades positively predict academic self-concepts of corresponding domains.

• Academic self-concepts positively predict self-perceptions of effort of corresponding domains.

• There are no negative cross-domain achievement effects on academic self-concepts and no cross-domain self-concept effects on self-perceptions of effort.

• Academic self-concepts mediate the effects from self-reported grades to self-perceptions of effort in corresponding domains.

     

The big-fish-little-pond effect on academic self-concept and interest in first- and third-grade students

BackgroundThe big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) postulates that class-average achievement has a negative effect on students’ academic self-concept. Research examining the BFLPE with elementary school students is scarce, especially with first graders.AimsThis study examined the BFLPE of class-average achievement on academic self-concept and interest in the math domain with first and third graders.SampleParticipants were Luxembourgish first graders (N = 5057) and third graders (N = 4925).MethodsA multilevel, doubly latent approach was used to assess a BFLPE model containing achievement (as the predictor) and ASC and interest (as outcomes) in the math domain.ResultsThe BFLPE on math self-concept was supported in both grades, whereas the BFLPE on math interest was supported only for third graders. In both grades, larger effect sizes were observed for the BFLPE on math self-concept than on math interest.ConclusionOur results suggest that the social comparisons underlying the BFLPE play an important role in the formation of math self-concept in both grades, but they play a less substantial—and probably later—role in the formation of math interest in elementary school.     

Phantom and big-fish-little-pond-effects on academic self-concept and academic achievement: Evidence from English early primary schools

The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect (BFLPE) suggests that school-average achievement has a negative effect on academic self-concept (ASC); some research has also verified a negative effect on students' academic achievement. Our study evaluates the compositional effects of school-average achievement on both outcomes, using a longitudinal sample of English early primary school students in Year 1 and Year 4. We provide evidence for BFLPEs in children as young as six to nine years of age. Further, we show that the BFLPE is a potential mechanism in the negative compositional effect of school average achievement in Year 1 on students' achievement in Year 4. Once adjustments for measurement error are made, the negative effect of school-average achievement on students' self-concept, and on their subsequent achievement, becomes even more negative. Our findings question previous research suggesting that attending a school with higher average achievement necessarily advances students’ outcomes.     

Subjective evaluations of intelligence and academic self-concept predict academic achievement: Evidence from a selective student population

The study examined the relationship between implicit theories, goal orientations, subjective and test estimates of intelligence, academic self-concept, and achievement in a selective student population (N = 300). There was no direct impact of implicit theories of intelligence and goal orientations on achievement. However, subjective evaluations of intelligence and academic self-concept had incremental predictive value over conventional intelligence when predicting achievement accounting for more than 50% of its variance. The obtained pattern of results is presented via structural equation models and interpreted within a dynamic regulative systems framework suggesting the importance of further studying complex sets of achievement predictors that include ability, personality and mediating constructs.     

The negative effect of school-average ability on science self-concept in the UK,the UK countries and the world: the Big-Fish-Little-Pond-Effect for PISA 2006

Research on the relation between students’ achievement (ACH) and their academic self-concept (ASC) has consistently shown a Big-Fish-Little-Pond-Effect (BFLPE); ASC is positively affected by individual ACH, but negatively affected by school-average ACH. Surprisingly, however, there are few good UK studies of the BFLPE and few anywhere in the world based on science self-concept (S-ASC). Addressing this substantive limitation in existing research with data from PISA 2006, we extend new multigroup doubly-latent multilevel structural equation models – a substantive-methodological synergy. BFLPE predictions for S-ASC are supported for: the total international sample; the total UK sample; each of the four UK countries considered separately. The BFLPE was marginally larger in the UK than the international sample. However, consistent with the selective nature of school systems in the UK, the BFLPE was larger in Northern Ireland and, to a lesser extent, England than in Scotland or Wales.     

Simultaneous testing of four decades of academic self-concept models

In separate studies on academic self-concept, previous research has shown: (1) the distinctiveness of a cognitive and an affective component, (2) the domain specificity of self-concepts, (3) the reciprocal effects of self-concept and achievement, (4) the internal/external frame of reference in self-concept development, (5) the reciprocal effects of the internal/external frame of reference, (6) the big-fish-little-pond effect, and (7) the interrelatedness of self-concepts in similar domains. The present study demonstrates that all of these seven findings are replicable and may be synthesized in a single study with a sample of students in Singapore. Secondary 1 students (7th graders; N = 275) were surveyed with 24 items about their academic self-concepts in physics, English, and math in two components (cognitive and affective), and their respective achievement scores were recorded over two time points. Confirmatory factor analysis found that the cognitive and affective components of academic self-concept were separable. The students’ self-concepts in different curriculum domains were distinct, supporting the domain specificity of self-concepts. The frame of reference and reciprocal effects were both supported, but only for the cognitive component of self-concept. Positive and statistically significant correlations between physics and math suggest that these curriculum domains were interrelated. Results of self-concept studies in schools can encourage and guide the design of interventions that could enhance students’ self-concept for positive sustainable effects on desirable educational outcomes. Attempts to improve learning outcomes should emphasize an enhancement of specific components of academic self-concept in domain-specific and related curriculum domains for optimal effects.     

Incremental validity of thinking styles in predicting academic achievements: an experimental study in hypermedia learning environments

The study examined the incremental validity of thinking styles in predicting academic achievement after controlling for personality and achievement motivation in the hypermedia‐based learning environment. Seventy‐two Chinese college students from Shanghai, the People’s Republic of China, took part in this instructional experiment. The End‐Of‐Semester test was designed to examine the students’ achievement in the course of General Psychology. The results partially supported the hypotheses concerning the relationships between students’ Type I and II thinking styles and their academic achievement in Type I test (including analysis, problem‐solving, and essay tests) and Type II test (including multiple‐choice and cloze tests), and showed that some Type III styles were significantly related to their academic achievement. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that the capacity of thinking styles for explaining and predicting academic achievement was sometimes over and above the sum of personality traits and achievement motivation. Implications for educational practice are discussed.     

Adolescents' perceptions of chronic self-concept,peer relations,and learning conditions

Based on Lewin's Field Theory, Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Systems Theory and social network analysis, the authors collected data from 405 Chinese adolescents about their peer relations, chronic self-concept levels and learning condition variables through questionnaire distributing, and from their teachers about their annual average academic achievement. It is proposed that the impacts of peer relations should be studied from a psycho-ecological perspective by considering the direct and joint effects of peer relations and student bio-psychological environment (as for instance chronic self-concept) on student outcomes. With hierarchical multiple regression analysis, hypothesis formulated on the research purpose was tested to be almost true. Finally, theoretical and practical implications were discussed.     

The developmental interplay of academic self-concept and achievement within and across domains among primary school students

The reciprocal internal/external frame of reference model (RI/EM) extends the internal/external frame of reference model (I/EM) over time and the reciprocal effects model (REM) across domains. The RI/EM postulates positive developmental relations between academic achievement and self-concept within a domain and negative relations across two non-matching domains (e.g., math and English). However, until now, empirical investigations of the RI/EM had only focused on secondary school students from specific countries. In the present study, we test whether the RI/EM also applies to primary school students and to students in the United States, by using a representative longitudinal data set: the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten (ECLS-K: 1998–1999). We found positive reciprocal relations between academic self-concept and standardized test scores within a domain, whereas the effect of prior achievement on self-concept was much stronger (skill-development part) than the effect of self-concept on achievement (self-enhancement). Furthermore, we found negative effects of achievement on subsequent self-concepts across domains (I/E frame of references). Overall, the findings of the study strongly support the RI/EM for primary school students. Our results are compared to previous findings in the literature for secondary school students and are discussed with regard to self-concept formation in primary school.     

英语课堂中自我概念和学习者自主

本文运用定量的研究方法,分析英语课堂中自我概念和学习者自主的现状及两者的关系。研究表明,英语课堂中自我概念对学习者自主具有积极的促进作用,但自我概念和学习者自主还有待提高。     

Self-concept a game changer for academic success for high-achieving Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous students: Reciprocal effects between self-concept and achievement

Indigenous Australians are highly disadvantaged educationally and on all socioeconomic indicators, but graduating from university largely closes this gap. However, despite clear examples of Indigenous success, little research has focused on the drivers of success of high-achieving Indigenous students to emulate their success. Thus, the explicit purpose of our study is to identify psychological drivers of Indigenous academic success for high-achieving students and compare these to those of high-achieving nonIndigenous students. To accomplish this purpose, we test the reciprocal effects model (REM) of self-concept and achievement for high-achieving Indigenous students (N = 493) and matched nonIndigenous students (N = 586) in primary and secondary schools. Academic achievement and self-concept were reciprocally related over three annual time waves, supporting the REM for high-achieving Indigenous and nonIndigenous students. Furthermore, results were invariant over two within-person facets (time and content-domain—math vs. English) and two between-person facets (Indigenous vs. nonIndigenous, and primary vs. secondary students). The results have important policy/practice implications for the drivers of success for high-achieving Indigenous students, education of high-achieving students more generally, and self-concept theory and research.     

学术自由与学术规范对我国切实性问题的思考

学术自由与学术规范,是学术活动的两大基础,缺一不可。我国目前学术界的问题,恰恰在于存在着相互矛盾着的两个方面:一方面是自由不够,规范泛滥;另一方面是规范不够,自由泛滥。两方面相加的结果,大大损害了我国的学术事业。为此,必须加强制度建设和道德建设,构建符合我国国情的学术自由与学术规范。     

The effect of class composition by gender and ability on secondary school students’ school well-being and academic self-concept: A literature review

In the field of educational effectiveness research, the influence of a class’ student body on students’ individual achievement scores has been a popular research interest for many years. Yet, few studies have focussed on the effects of class composition on students’ non-achievement outcomes, and up to now, hardly any attempts have been made to summarize the findings of previous studies on this topic by conducting a literature review. The current study tries to fill in this gap and focuses on the effects of class composition in secondary education in terms of ability and gender on students’ school well-being and academic self-concept. The results of this literature review indicate that ability grouping is beneficial for strong students’ school well-being, but rather detrimental for the school well-being of weak students. The reverse holds for students’ academic self-concept. Furthermore, our results show that single-sex classes are advantageous for girls’ school well-being and academic self-concept. As for boys, the results are inconclusive.     

Promoting academic satisfaction and performance: Building academic resilience through coping strategies

The aim of this article is twofold: (a) to validate the psychometric properties of the Academic Resilience Scale (AR‐S) in a Spanish university context; and (b) to test a model where different coping strategies are antecedents of AR, and where academic satisfaction and performance are its consequences. The studies were conducted with 185 (study 1) and 780 (study 2) students. In study 1, the construct validity, reliability, and convergent and divergent validity of the AR‐S were analyzed. The hypothesized model (study 2) was tested using structural equation modeling. The results confirmed the good psychometric properties of the AR‐S in the Spanish context, providing evidence of its validity. Furthermore, the distinctive role of different coping strategies in resilience was confirmed, as well as the relationship between resilience and academic satisfaction. No direct relationship between resilience and performance was found, highlighting the full mediation of satisfaction.