Big Fish Little Pond Effect: effects of academically selective schools and classes

Self-concept cannot be adequately understood if the role of frames of reference is ignored.

The same objective characteristics and accomplishments can lead to disparate self-concepts depending on the frame of reference or standards of comparison that individuals use to evaluate themselves. More than a century ago, William James (1890/1963) discussed “the paradox of a man shamed to death because he is only the second pugilist or the second oarsman in the world” (p. 310). Almost half a century ago, Festinger (1954) introduced social comparison theory that provides one approach for studying frame of reference effects.

Marsh (1984; 1991; Marsh & Parker, 1984) proposed a frame of reference model called the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) to encapsulate frame of reference effects affecting self-concept in educational settings. He hypothesised that students compare their own academic ability with the academic abilities of their peers and use this social comparison impression as one basis for forming their own academic self-concept. In its simplest form, the BFLPE predicts that equally able students have lower academic self-concepts when attending schools where the average ability level of other students is high than when attending schools where the school-average ability is low. Subsequent research in this ongoing research program demonstrates that these BFLPE findings are remarkably robust, generalizing over a wide variety of different individual student and contextual level characteristics, settings, countries, longterm followups, and research designs. The results also have important policy implications for the ways in which schools are organized (e.g., ability grouping, tracking, selective schools, gifted education programs, etc. See recent reviews by Marsh, 2007; O’Mara & Marsh, 2007).

Notable findings include:

  • Marsh & Hau (2003) study showing the negative effects of school-average ability generalised over nationally representative samples of students from 23 countries from the OECD/PISA study.
  • Marsh & Tracey (2006) study showing that students with learning disabilities had higher academic self-concepts in special education classes with children of similar abilities than in mainsteam (mixed-ability) classes. These results are consistent with the BFLPE but contradict “labelling theory” that is one basis for special classes.
  • Marsh, Trautwein, Ludtke, Baumert, & Köller (2007) study found that BFLPEs established early in high school grew the longer students were in the same school, and were maintained two and four years after graduation from high school.

Selected References

Marsh, H. W. (1991). The failure of high ability high schools to deliver academic benefits: The importance of academic self-concept and educational aspirations. American Educational Research Journal, 28, 445-480.

Marsh, H. W. (2007). Self-concept theory, measurement and research into practice: The role of self-concept in educational psychology. Leicester, UK: British Psychological Society.

Marsh, H. W. & Hau, K. T. (2003). Big fish little pond effect on academic self-concept: A crosscultural (26 country) test of the negative effects of academically selective schools. American Psychologist, 58, 364-376.

Marsh, H. W., & Parker, J W. (1984). Determinants of student self-concept: Is it better to be a relatively large fish in a small pond even if you don’t learn to swim as well? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 213-231.

Marsh, H. W., Trautwein, U., Ludtke, O., Baumert, J. & Köller, O. (2007). Big fish little pond effect: Persistent negative effects of selective high schools on self-concept after graduation. American Educational Research Journal.

O’Mara, A. J. & Marsh, H. W. (2007). Big-Fish-Little-Pond effect: The negative effects of academically selective schools. The Psychology of Education Review, 31, 2-7