Developmental trajectories of achievement emotions in mathematics during adolescence

This study examined how adolescents' emotions in mathematics develop over time. Growth curve modeling was applied to longitudinal data collected annually from 2002 to 2006 (Grades 5-9; N = 3425 German adolescents; Mage  = 11.7, 15.6 years at the first and last waves, respectively; 50.0% female). Results indicated that enjoyment and pride decreased over time (Glass's Δs = -.86, -.71). In contrast, negative emotions exhibited more complex patterns: Anger, boredom, and hopelessness increased (Δs = .52, .79, .26), shame decreased (Δ = -.12), and anxiety remained stable (Δ = .00). These change trajectories of emotions were associated with change trajectories of perceived control, intrinsic value, achievement value, and achievement in mathematics. Implications and future directions are discussed.

The regional big-fish-little-pond effect: Evidence from national and subnational comparisons

According to the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE), students evaluate themselves more favourably when they have a high rank in a low-rank school than a low rank in a high-rank school. We examined whether the BFLPE impacts self-evaluations in regional settings, where the reference group is one's nation or subnation. In Study 1, participants told that they ranked above average in a below-average nation evaluated themselves more favourably than participants told that they ranked below average in an above-average nation. Study 2 demonstrated that this regional BFLPE occurs both when the reference group is one's nation (USA) and one's subnation (e.g. California, Florida). Finally, Study 3 found that the BFLPE occurs and is similar in size when the reference group is one's nation versus one's school. In sum, these experiments provide novel support for the BFLPE in regional contexts and suggest that social comparisons that involve regional groups substantially impact self-evaluations.

Testing measurement invariance of mathematics self-concept and self-efficacy in PISA using MGCFA and the alignment method

The aim of the study is to investigate the measurement invariance of mathematics self-concept and self-efficacy across 40 countries that participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003 and 2012 cycles. The sample of the study consists of 271,760 students in PISA 2003 and 333,804 students in PISA 2012. Firstly, the traditional measurement invariance testing was applied in the multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA). Then, the alignment analyses were performed, allowing non-invariance to a minimum to estimate all of the parameters. Results from MGCFA indicate that mathematics self-concept and self-efficacy hold metric invariance across the 80 groups (cycle by country). The alignment method results suggest that a large proportion of non-invariance exists in both mathematics self-concept and self-efficacy factors, and the factor means cannot be compared across all participating countries. Results of the Monte Carlo simulation show that the alignment results are trustworthy. Implications and limitations are discussed, and some recommendations for future research are proposed.

Comparisons of Science Motivational Beliefs of Adolescents in Taiwan, Australia, and the United States: Assessing the Measurement Invariance Across Countries and Genders

This study utilized international, large-scale assessment data to compare science motivational beliefs of adolescents within and between countries and genders. The study focused on the beliefs about science of eighth graders, including their self-concept in science, the intrinsic value they ascribed to science, and their beliefs about the utility of the subject. The study data were derived from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study in 2019 (TIMSS) that was conducted in Taiwan, Australia, and the United States. To ensure the validity of mean cross-group comparisons, the measurement invariance (MI) of the constructs was first assessed. The multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis and latent factor mean comparisons were applied to the data. The results indicated that the MI of science motivational beliefs across the three countries attained only metric invariance, rendering a latent mean comparison implausible. However, the cross-gender MI within each country attained scalar invariance, supporting the comparison of means across genders. The science motivational beliefs of females were significantly lower than those of males, with the exception of beliefs of US students about their utility value. The findings of this study raise concerns about the validity of current international comparisons of science motivational beliefs of the students while supporting the use of TIMSS data to identify gender differences in science motivation within each country. The implications of MI across countries and genders are discussed, and the importance of establishing MI is highlighted. The findings affirm that gender disparities in science motivational beliefs can be compared using constructs with sound psychometric properties.

When Large-Scale Assessments Meet Data Science: The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect in Fourth- and Eighth-Grade Mathematics Across Nations

The programming language of R has useful data science tools that can automate analysis of large-scale educational assessment data such as those available from the United States Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). This study used three R packages: EdSurvey, MplusAutomation, and tidyverse to examine the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) in 56 countries in fourth grade and 46 countries in eighth grade for the subject of mathematics with data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015. The BFLPE refers to the phenomenon that students in higher-achieving contexts tend to have lower self-concept than similarly able students in lower-achieving contexts due to social comparison. In this study, it is used as a substantive theory to illustrate the implementation of data science tools to carry out large-scale cross-national analysis. For each country and grade, two statistical models were applied for cross-level measurement invariance testing, and for testing the BFLPE, respectively. The first model was a multilevel confirmatory factor analysis for the measurement of mathematics self-concept using three items. The second model was multilevel latent variable modeling that decomposed the effect of achievement on self-concept into between and within components; the difference between them was the contextual effect of the BFLPE. The BFLPE was found in 51 of the 56 countries in fourth grade and 44 of the 46 countries in eighth grade. The study provides syntax and discusses problems encountered while using the tools for modeling and processing of modeling results.

Academic Achievement, Self-Concept, Personality and Emotional Intelligence in Primary Education. Analysis by Gender and Cultural Group

A review of the scientific literature shows that many studies have analyzed the relationship between academic achievement and different psychological constructs, such as self-concept, personality, and emotional intelligence. The present work has two main objectives. First, to analyze the academic achievement, as well as the self-concept, personality and emotional intelligence, according to gender and cultural origin of the participants (European vs. Amazigh). Secondly, to identify what dimensions of self-concept, personality and emotional intelligence predict academic achievement. For this, a final sample consisting of 407 students enrolled in the last 2 years of Primary Education were utilized for the study. By gender, 192 were boys (47.2%) and 215 girls (52.8%), with an average age of 10.74 years old. By cultural group, 142 were of European origin (34.9%) and 265 of Amazigh origin (65.1%). The academic achievements were evaluated from the grades obtained in three school subjects: Natural Sciences, Spanish Language and Literature, and Mathematics, and the instruments used for data collection of the psychological constructs analyzed were the Self-Concept Test-Form 5, the Short-Form Big Five Questionnaire for Children, and the BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version-Short. Based on the objectives set, first, the grades in the subject of Spanish Language and Literature varied depending on the gender of the students. Likewise, differences were found in self-concept, personality, and emotional intelligence according to gender. Also, the physical self-concept varied according to the cultural group. Regarding the second objective, in the predictive analysis for each of the subjects of the curriculum of Primary Education, the academic self-concept showed a greater predictive value. However, so did other dimensions of self-concept, personality and emotional intelligence. The need to carry out a comprehensive education in schools that addresses the promotion of not only academic but also personal and social competences is discussed. Also, that the study of the variables that affect gender differences must be deepened.

Classroom effect on primary school students’ self-concept in literacy and mathematics

According to the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLP) model, high individual academic performance in a particular subject is related to high self-concept in that subject, whereas high average classroom performance has a negative effect on self-concept. In the present study, data from Finnish primary school students in grade 3 (504 students), grade 4 (487 students), and grade 6 (365 students) are used to examine whether the assumptions of the BFLP effect model hold already in primary school. Furthermore, we examined gender differences in BFLP effect. The results showed that as expected students’ high performance in literacy and in mathematics was related to high self-concept in the same subject. Support for the negative classroom effect was small and it depended on the school subject and student’s gender. That is, a high average classroom performance already in grade 3 had a negative but small effect on boys’ self-concept in mathematics. In literacy and among girls, only little support was found for the negative classroom effect.

Three Paradoxical Effects on Academic Self-Concept Across Countries, Schools, and Students

Abstract. We simultaneously resolve three paradoxes in academic self-concept research with a single unifying meta-theoretical model based on frame-of-reference effects across 68 countries, 18,292 schools, and 485,490 15-year-old students. Paradoxically, but consistent with predictions, effects on math self-concepts were negative for: • being from countries where country-average achievement was high; explaining the paradoxical cross-cultural self-concept effect; • attending schools where school-average achievement was high; demonstrating big-fish-little-pond-effects (BFLPE) that generalized over 68 countries, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)/non-OECD countries, high/low achieving schools, and high/low achieving students; • year-in-school relative to age; unifying different research literatures for associated negative effects for starting school at a younger age and acceleration/skipping grades, and positive effects for starting school at an older age (“academic red shirting”) and, paradoxically, even for repeating a grade.

Contextual effects matter, resulting in significant and meaningful effects on self-beliefs, not only at the student (year in school) and local school level (BFLPE), but remarkably even at the macro-contextual country-level. Finally, we juxtapose cross-cultural generalizability based on Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data used here with generalizability based on meta-analyses, arguing that although the two approaches are similar in many ways, the generalizability shown here is stronger in terms of support for the universality of the frame-of-reference effects.

It's Not Only Who You Are but Who You Are With: High School Composition and Individuals' Attainment Over the Life Course

We examined life-course effects of attending selective schools using a longitudinal study of U.S. high school students begun in 1960 ( Ns ranging from 1,952 to 377,015). The effects, measured 11 and 50 years after the initial assessment, differed significantly across the two indicators of school selectivity that were used. School average socioeconomic background was positively related to students' educational expectations, educational attainment, income, and occupational prestige at the 11-year follow-up (0.15 ≤ β ≤ 0.39; all ps < .001). Conversely, schools' average achievement at the 11-year follow-up was negatively related to students' expectations, attainment, income, and occupational prestige (-0.42 ≤ β ≤ -0.05; all ps < .05) when schools' socioeconomic background was controlled for. All associations were mediated by students' educational expectations. With the exception of income, these effects were consistent 50 years after high school, pointing to the long reach of beneficial learning resources and negative social comparison processes when attending selective schools.

The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect on Academic Self-Concept: A Meta-Analysis

The Big-fish-little-Pond effect is well acknowledged as the negative effect of class/school average achievement on student academic self-concept, which profoundly impacts student academic performance and mental development. Although a few studies have been done with regard to this effect, inconsistence exists in the effect size with little success in finding moderators. Here, we present a meta-analysis to synthesize related literatures to reach a summary conclusion on the BFLPE. Furthermore, student age, comparison target, academic self-concept domain, student location, sample size, and publication year were examined as potential moderators. Thirty-three studies with fifty-six effect sizes (total N = 1,276,838) were finally included. The random effects model led to a mean of the BFLPE at β = −0.28 (p < 0.001). Moreover, moderator analyses revealed that the Big-Fish-Little-Pond effect is an age-based process and an intercultural phenomenon, which is stronger among high school students, in Asia and when verbal self-concept is considered. This meta-analysis is the first quantitative systematic overview of BFLPE, whose results are valuable to the understanding of BFLPE and reveal the necessity for educators from all countries to learn about operative means to help students avoid the potential negative effect. Future research expectations are offered subsequently.

The big-fish-little-pond effect on mathematics self-concept: Evidence from the United Arab Emirates

This study examined the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE; Marsh, 1987) on mathematics self-concept of 7404 adolescents (female = 3767 [51%], male = 3637 [49%]; M_age = 15.85 years, SD = 0.28) from 456 schools in the United Arab Emirates, one of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. The results of multilevel regression analyses indicated good support for the BFLPE's theoretical predictions: the effect of individual student mathematics achievement on individual student mathematics self-concept was positive and statistically significant, whereas the effect of school-average mathematics achievement on individual student mathematics self-concept was negative and statistically significant. Moreover, the interaction between school-average mathematics achievement and individual student mathematics achievement was small and non-significant. Implications of the findings for policy and practice are briefly discussed.

Frogs, Ponds, and Culture

Would you rather be the big frog in a small pond or the small frog in a big pond? In three studies, we demonstrate that the entry preference depends on culture. Study 1 found a higher big pond preference for East Asian, versus European American, students. Studies 2A and 2B replicated this big pond preference in behavioral intent across educational and organizational settings for Chinese, as compared to United States, working adults. Study 3 demonstrated cultural variation in frog–pond decisions was not explained by comparison processes that characterize postentry self-regard but rather by concerns for prestige. Together, findings highlight how a cultural lens informs psychological processes that shape entry decision-making.

Die individuell präferierte Bezugsnormorientierung und das Selbstkonzept von Grundschulkindern im Fach Mathematik

Zusammenfassung. Zur Beurteilung von Leistungen können drei Bezugsnormen (BNO) angewendet werden: die individuelle (IBNO), soziale (SBNO) und kriteriale BNO (KBNO). Ziel der vorliegenden Studie war es, (1) bei 410 Viertklässlerinnen und Viertklässlern die drei BNO faktorenanalytisch zu konzeptualisieren, (2) die Vorhersagbarkeit des mathematischen Selbstkonzepts (MSK) und der Mathematiknoten (MN) durch die drei BNO zu erfassen und (3) Mediatoreffekte des MSKs sowie Interaktionseffekte für die SBNO auf Schüler- und Klassenebene (SBNO_K) mit der Klassendurchschnittsleistung (KL) zu überprüfen. Faktorenanalysen zeigten, dass sich ein Drei-Faktoren-Modell am besten an die Daten anpasst. Positive Korrelationen lagen zwischen allen Konstrukten und den MN vor. Mehrebenen-Pfadanalysen zeigten positive Pfade von der IBNO und KBNO auf das MSK und vom MSK auf die MN sowie von der SBNO auf die MN, jedoch negative Pfade von der KL und der SBNO_K auf die MN. Das MSK erwies sich als Mediator zwischen der IBNO und den MN sowie zwischen der KBNO und den MN.