Experiences and forecasts of the big-fish-little-pond effect
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Christopher A. Stockus (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
- Advisor
- Ethan Zell
Abstract: Research on the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) indicates that students evaluate themselves more favorably when they have high rank in low rank schools than low rank in high rank schools. In this integrated dissertation, I provide three empirical papers examining experiences and forecasts of this effect. BFLPE experiences refer to the impact of having either high rank in a low rank group or low rank in a high rank group on one’s own self-evaluations and performance-related affect. Forecasts of the BFLPE refer to the predicted impact of these same social comparison conditions on another person’s self-evaluations and performance-related affect. In empirical paper one, we examined whether experienced BFLPEs occur in different regional groups (i.e., at the school, state, and country level). In empirical paper two, we tested whether growth mindsets, that is, the belief that one’s abilities are malleable and capable of change, ameliorate the negative effects of having low rank in a high rank group. In empirical paper three, we examined whether the BFLPE occurs in empathic forecasting. In sum, this program of research contributes to our understanding of the conditions and contexts in which the BFLPE is likely to emerge, provides additional support for the robustness of the BFLPE, further establishes the causal nature of the effect, and indicates that intergroup comparison neglect is a key mechanism underlying the BFLPE.
Experiences and forecasts of the big-fish-little-pond effect
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Created on 5/1/2024
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Dissertation
- Language: English
- Date: 2024
- Keywords
- Big-fish-little-pond effect, Social comparison