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Understanding the effect of being a big fish in a little pond on academic self-concept

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Netherlands Journal of Psychology

Abstract

Academic self-concept is not only considered a relevant variable influencing many educational outcomes directly or indirectly, but also an important educational goal in itself (Marsh & Hau, 2003). Therefore, it is important to understand how students’ academic self-concept develops and what affects it. In this paper, our focus is on the big-fish-little-pond (BFLP) model (Marsh, 1987) as an explanatory framework. The central presumption of this model is that the comparison of one's academic performance with that of one's immediate peers is a strong determinant of academic self-concept. In this literature review, we will try to show that this model applies to many issues in educational research, and also has significant practical implications. Furthermore, we want to give an impression of some related topics that require more attention and that could inspire future research on this matter. (Netherlands Journal of Psychology 65, 89-101.)

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    Sofie Wouters

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  1. Sofie Wouters
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  3. Veerle Germeijs
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Center for School Psychology, Catholic University Louvain Correspondence to: Sofie Wouters, Department of Psychology, Catholic University Louvain, Tiensestraat 102, B-3000 Louvain, Belgium Submitted 12 August 2008; revision received: 11 June 2009.

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Wouters, S., Colpin, H., Germeijs, V. et al. Understanding the effect of being a big fish in a little pond on academic self-concept. NEJP 65, 89–101 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03080131

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