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Moderation of the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect: Juxtaposition of Evolutionary (Darwinian-Economic) and Achievement Motivation Theory Predictions Based on a Delphi Approach

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Abstract

The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE), the negative effect of school-/class-average achievement on academic self-concept, is one of educational psychology’s most universal findings. However, critiques of this research have proposed moderators based on achievement motivation theories. Nevertheless, because these motivational theories are not sufficiently well-developed to provide unambiguous predictions concerning moderation of the BFLPE and underlying social comparison processes, we developed a Theory-Integrating Approach; bringing together a panel of experts, independently making theoretical predictions, revising the predictions over several rounds based on independent feedback from the other experts, and a summary of results. We pit a priori hypotheses derived from achievement motivation theories against the more parsimonious a priori prediction that there is no moderation based on previous BFLPE empirical research and Darwinian-economic theory (N = 1,925 Hong Kong students, 47 classes, M age = 12 years). Consistent with both BFLPE research and Darwinian perspectives, but in contrast to achievement motivation theory predictions, the highly significant BFLPE was not moderated by any of the following: prior achievement, expectancy-value theory variables, achievement goals, implicit theories of ability, self-regulated learning strategies, and social interdependence theory measures. Although we cannot “prove” that there are no student-level moderators of the BFLPE, our synthesis of social comparison posited in the BFLPE theory and an evolutionary perspective support BFLPE’s generalizability. We propose further integration of our Theory-Integrating Approach with traditional Delphi methods, combining quantitative and qualitative approaches to develop a priori theoretical predictions and identify limitations in existing theory as an alternative form of systematic review.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Catholic University, Level 10, 33 Berry Street, North Sydney, NSW, 2060, Australia

    Herbert W. Marsh, Philip D Parker, Reinhard Pekrun, Jiesi Guo, Theresa Dicke & Geetanjali Basarkod

  2. Oxford University, Oxford, OX1 2JD, UK

    Herbert W. Marsh

  3. Open University of the Netherlands, Heerlen, Netherlands

    Kate M Xu

  4. The Chinese University of Hong kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Kit-Tai Hau

  5. University of Essex, Colchester, UK

    Reinhard Pekrun

  6. University of Munich, Munich, Germany

    Reinhard Pekrun

  7. University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA

    Andrew Elliot

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Marsh, H.W., Xu, K.M., Parker, P.D. et al. Moderation of the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect: Juxtaposition of Evolutionary (Darwinian-Economic) and Achievement Motivation Theory Predictions Based on a Delphi Approach. Educ Psychol Rev 33, 1353–1378 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-020-09583-5

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