Relation between perceived scholastic competence ... - Springer Link

Soc Psychol Educ (2012) 15:603–614 DOI 10.1007/s11218-012-9189-z

Relation between perceived scholastic competence and social comparison mechanisms among elementary school children Natacha Boissicat · Pascal Pansu · Thérèse Bouffard · Fanny Cottin

Received: 22 June 2011 / Accepted: 4 May 2012 / Published online: 1 August 2012 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

Abstract According to the literature, among social comparison mechanisms, identification with an upward target would be the most frequent mechanism that students report to use. However, it remains unclear how the identification and the contrast mechanisms contribute to the construction of pupils’ scholastic perceived competence. The aim of this study was to test the two following hypotheses: (1) the more pupils report using downward identification and upward contrast, the lower their perceived scholastic competence; (2) the more pupils report using upward identification and downward contrast, the higher their perceived scholastic competence will be. Three hundred and eighty French-speaking pupils (147 fourth graders and 233 fifth graders) from public elementary schools in the district of Grenoble (France) were met in their school. Pupils responded to a standardized mental ability test and to a questionnaire about their perceived scholastic competence and their utilization of social comparison mechanisms: upward and downward identification and upward and downward contrast. Boys and girls differed on some of the social comparison mechanisms. However, the two hypotheses were confirmed and hold true for both boys and girls. Findings show that beyond the contribution of cognitive abilities, pupils’ responsiveness to these mechanisms contributed to the development of their perceived scholastic competence. One educational implication is the usefulness of analyzing the processes N. Boissicat · P. Pansu (B) Université de Grenoble, BP 47, 38040 Grenoble Cedex, France e-mail: [email protected] N. Boissicat e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] T. Bouffard (B) · F. Cottin Université du Québec á Montréal, CP 8888, Succursale Centre Ville, Montréal H3C 3P8, Canada e-mail: [email protected] F. Cottin e-mail: [email protected]

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of social comparison as strategies to allow pupils to maintain a positive perception of their scholastic competence. Keywords Perceived scholastic competence · Social comparison · Upward and downward identification · Upward and downward contrast 1 Introduction The idea that peers, through the process of social comparison, play a major role in selfperception is not new in the field of psychology. It goes back at least to Festinger (1954) who developed the social comparison theory which has greatly influenced research in recent decades on self-evaluation and the behaviors towards one’s social group. According to Festinger, this general phenomenon is firmly rooted in human behavior (to the point of being almost automatic) and stems from a fundamental human need to evaluate oneself. It is thus at least partially through comparison with others, especially peers, that self-perceptions develop in social settings. Among social settings, from an early age, school is conducive to the use of social comparison, whether individual or in reference to the group. This article aims to examine the links between mechanisms of social comparison, upward and downward identification, and upward and downward contrast on the one hand, and pupils’ perceived scholastic competence on the other hand. 1.1 Perceptions of competence and the school environment Acknowledging the role of global self-evaluation (referred to as global self-esteem, global self-worth or global self-concept), researchers now generally recognize that self-evaluation in specific domains that are significant to the individual (Harter 1982, 1999; Higgins and Bargh 1987; Marsh 1986, 1990; Shavelson and Marsh 1986) is relevant. Moreover, these specific evaluations are better predictors of behaviour in the same domain, than global self-evaluation (Brunot 2007). The results of a meta-analysis by Hansford and Hattie (1982) that included 128 cross-sectional studies revealed that the link between academic achievement and global self-esteem (r = .22) or global self-concept (r = .18) was much weaker than the link with scholastic self-perceptions (r = .42). These results are consistent with those reported in a recent study by Marsh and O’Mara (2008) where academic achievement was positively related to academic self-concept but not directly related to global self-evaluation. Another meta-analysis conducted by Valentine et al. (2004) showed similar conclusions for longitudinal studies; the relationship between self-beliefs of competence and academic achievement was positive and stronger when the self-evaluation measures were specific to the academic domain rather than global (Valentine et al. 2004). These results also apply generally to studies in which earlier academic achievement was controlled for. For example, in a study by Marsh and Yeung (1997), after controlling for prior academic achievement measured at time 1, academic self-concept measured at the same time partially predicted academic achievement a year later. Overall, the results of these studies showed that academic self-concept and school-based performance are linked—the variations in effect sizes were often

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explained by factors like the degree of similarity between the self-evaluation and performance measures that modulated this relationship. Nevertheless, the reciprocal effect of the relationship between perceived scholastic competence and performance should not be overlooked (Guay et al. 2003; Marsh and O’Mara 2008; Marsh et al. 2005). Hence, evaluations obtained in class can, in turn, be a source of feedback on pupils’ academic competence. In this line, Huguet (2009) showed a positive spiral: a high level of academic competence, in turn, is beneficial for academic performance which comes second. Such evaluations therefore contribute, along with other experiences in the school environment, to the development of a pupil’s feeling of academic competence. Thus, like other school-related factors such as evaluation, teacher ratings, and comparison with the class as a whole (cf., Bressoux and Pansu 2003; Marsh 1987; Marsh and Parker 1984), the influence of significant peers, as part of individual social comparison, contributes to the development of perceived scholastic competence.

1.2 Mechanisms of social comparison Social comparison is a mechanism through which an individual can gather or construct information about oneself and others (or the group), which enables him to judge himself/herself (Wood 1996). Festinger (1954) defined it as a process used by an individual to deliberately select social information in order to evaluate his/her opinions and abilities but also to reduce his/her uncertainty with regard to his/her own worth. In order to satisfy this need, one can compare oneself to targets that are relatively similar to oneself, or to targets who are slightly better (i.e. upward comparison) or worse than oneself (i.e. downward comparison). These different sources of comparison can have very different consequences for one’s sense of identity—whether in emotional, cognitive or behavioral terms (Martinot 2008; Huguet and Monteil 2002). Based on these ideas, a body of research (Wheeler 1966; Wills 1981, 1987; Wood 1985; Morse and Gergen 1970) was devoted to determine the beneficial aspects of making upward comparison or downward comparison. Subsequently, other studies focused on the generalized tendency in Western societies to compare oneself with upward targets. In the school environment, this translates into a preference for pupils to compare themselves with classmates who perform better than they did (Blanton et al. 1999; Huguet et al. 2001; Dijkstra et al. 2008). Nevertheless, although the tendency is usually to compare upward, Blanton et al.’s (1999) results showed that 45 % of the students did choose to compare downward. Seeing significant peers succeed better than oneself at a task can lead to both adaptive reactions (e.g. improved performance and increased motivation) and maladaptive reactions (e.g. feeling threatened). With regard to maladaptive reactions, Marsh (1987) described the so-called big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) that has since received support in numerous studies in the academic domain. Like a fish that sees itself as being small in a big pond (or big in a small pond), the level of academic self-concept of a pupil whose class is strong will be lower—and, conversely, that of a pupil whose class is weak will be higher (Marsh and Parker 1984). Recent results from a series of studies conducted by Bressoux and Pansu (2003), Pansu and Bressoux (2010) among pupils in Grades 3 and 5 in France also support this effect: controlling for scholastic performance, they concluded that the higher the level of the

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class, the lower the pupils perceived their scholastic competence. However, Huguet (2009) observed that BFLPE is eliminated after controlling for students’ comparative evaluations. Other studies have seen upward social comparison as an opportunity to improve one’s performance (Wheeler 1966; Collins 1996). These studies are based on the postulate that one’s reactions to upward comparison depend mainly on one’s perception of the difference (negligible or significant) between oneself and the target of comparison. This phenomenon is referred to as the effect of assimilation or identification with the target versus the effect of contrast or differentiation with the target (Smith 2000; Buunk and Ybema 1997). While these studies emphasized the fact that academic self-perception is mainly constructed in the classroom, they also point to the complexity of the processes of social comparison. Buunk et al. (1990) examined the emotional states generated by social comparison. They argued that emotional states (positive or negative) differ according to the personal interpretation of the difference between oneself and the target, and they pointed to two interpretation mechanisms. The first, identification, would lead an individual to perceive this difference as negligible and thus to feel similar to the target. The second, contrast, would lead the individual to perceive this difference as being significant and thus to feel different from the target (Buunk et al. 1990; Buunk and Ybema 1997; Smith 2000; Buunk et al. 2005). Therefore, upward comparison can provide two types of information that are likely to evoke radically opposed emotions (Buunk et al. 1990). An evaluative response applied to one’s immediate situation can lead to frustration (e.g. I am not as good as that person), whereas a response directed towards a possible future can lead to hope (e.g. it is possible that I will get better and be as good as that person). Similarly, downward comparison can also provide two types of information that are likely to evoke specific emotions. An evaluative response applied to one’s immediate situation can lead to a feeling of relief (e.g. I am not as bad as that person) whereas a response directed toward a possible future can lead to fear (e.g. it is possible that I will get worse and be as bad as that person). Thus, the positive or negative valence associated with each of these mechanisms of interpretation may mainly depend on the way the information is processed, that is, whether it is applied to one’s immediate situation or directed toward a possible future. In this line, Buunk et al. (2005) examined affective reactions relative to identification or contrast among high school students when they engaged in upward or downward comparison. Results revealed that in a situation of upward comparison, students showed more affective responses related to identification (hope to succeed as well as the target in the future) than affective responses related to contrast (frustration at having succeeded less well than the target). Following Dijkstra et al. (2008), identification in response to upward comparison emerged as the most frequent mechanism reported by students. More recently, and from a somewhat different perspective, Bouffard et al. (in press) developed and validated a scale to assess the upward or downward valence of identification and contrast in a situation of social comparison. Besides being specific to the scholastic domain, this instrument differs from previous tools in the way it grasps the mechanisms of social comparison. While contrast still refers to the significance of the difference between oneself and someone else (with positive or negative consequences), identification is defined by Bouffard et al. (in press) as the fact of assigning a functional status to the models’ internal reference framework (i.e. seeing someone

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doing better or less well than before) rather than merely to the models’ external reference framework (i.e. seeing someone doing better or less well than oneself). This recalls Bandura’s (1977) reflections on the functional role of observing a model and its consequences for the observer. Thus, identification to a model (upward or downward) would lead an individual to feel similar emotional states experienced by this model. For example, one might feel hope or fear by transferring the model’s experience to oneself. The present study used this perspective to examine the links between social comparison mechanisms and perceived scholastic competence among elementary school pupils. More precisely, we expected that the more the pupils report using downward identification and upward contrast, the lower will be their perceived scholastic competence. Conversely, we hypothesized that the more pupils will report using upward identification and downward contrast, the higher their perceived scholastic competence will be. It is known that perceived scholastic competence is related to pupils’ level of cognitive abilities, but this factor has rarely been taken into account in studying the relationship between perceived competence and social comparison. In the present study, it was controlled for in the analyses. 2 Method 2.1 Participants The sample comprised 147 fourth graders (81 girls and 66 boys, mean age: 9.7 years 8 months, SD = 0.5 year) and 233 fifth graders (120 girls and 113 boys, mean age: 10.7 years, SD = 0.5 year) enrolled in public elementary schools in the Grenoble area (France). All pupils were French-speakers and were recruited from four fourth grade classes, six fifth grade classes and ten mixed classes. Parents’ consent was required for the children’s participation. 2.2 Measures A standardized test was used to measure the pupils’ cognitive abilities. The questionnaire format used to assess perceived scholastic competence and the four social comparison mechanisms was adapted from Harter (1982). Accordingly, each item provided a description of hypothetical children as in the following example: “Some children are very good at school.” Pupils were asked to indicate to what extent the description applied to them on a scale ranging from 1 (not at all true for me) to 4 (really true for me). 2.3 Cognitive abilities The French version of the Mental Ability Test (Otis and Lennon 1971) was used to assess the pupils’ cognitive abilities. This test includes 80 items that call on general knowledge, vocabulary and mathematical abilities related to school learning. For each

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item, the pupils were asked to identify the correct response among five choices. The total number of correct responses was transformed into a mental ability score according to each child’s chronological age.

2.4 Perceived scholastic competence The French version (Guilbert 1990) of the perceived scholastic competence subscale of the Perceived Competence Scale for Children (Harter 1982) was used to assess the pupils’ perceived scholastic competence. The following example was taken from the scale: “Some children can often figure out answers”. The internal consistency of this five-item scale was satisfactory (α = .73). The higher the average score, the higher the pupils’ perceived scholastic competence.

2.5 Social comparison The questionnaire developed by Bouffard et al. (in press) was used to assess the pupils’ social comparison mechanisms at school. This instrument includes 12 items divided into four subscales, each comprising three items referring to upward contrast (α = .71), downward contrast (α = .66), upward identification (α = .74) and downward identification (α = .79). The following selected item refers to upward contrast: “Some students feel frustrated when they see other students doing better than themselves” (α = .71). The following selected item refers to downward contrast: “Some students are happy to realize how well they have done, when they see that other students have not done as well” (α = .66). The following selected item refers to upward identification: “Some students feel really hopeful that they can improve when they see that others students are doing better than they did before” (α = .74). The following selected item refers to downward identification: “Some students are afraid that their grades will get poorer when they see that other students are not doing as well as they did before” (α = .79). For each subscale, a high score indicated that the pupils highly adhered to the given social comparison mechanism.

2.6 Procedure The data were collected in school during regular class hours. Two sessions were needed to measure cognitive abilities, perceived scholastic competence and social comparison mechanisms. First, according to the instructions prescribed by the authors of the mental ability test, a 50-minute time period was allowed for pupils to complete the test. Second, the questionnaire on the pupils’ perceived scholastic competence and social comparison mechanisms was filled out during a different period lasting approximately 20 min. The two sessions were held approximately one month apart. In order to help pupils who may have had reading difficulties, the experimenter read all the items out loud and made sure that each participant understood the instructions.

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3 Results 3.1 Preliminary analyses Prior to examining the hypotheses, preliminary analyses were conducted to verify whether there was a difference according to pupils’ gender and school level on the social comparison mechanisms (see Table 1). The results of the ANOVA1 with gender (X2) and grade level (X2) as between-subject factors and the social comparison mechanisms (X4) as repeated factors showed significant effects for gender (F[1, 376] = 7.88, p < .005, η2p = .021) and social comparison mechanisms (F[2.64, 993.09] = 153.49, η2p = .29, p < .001). All social comparison mechanisms differed significantly ( p < .05): upward identification and downward contrast were both preferred to upward contrast and downward identification (see Table 1). Grade effect was not significant (F[1, 376] = .03, ns), nor was its interaction with gender (F[1, 376] = .31, ns). Interaction between social comparison mechanisms and gender was significant (F[2.64, 993.09] = 4.20, p < .01, η2p = .01.) Only two of the four mechanisms differed by gender: compared to boys, girls reported higher scores for upward contrast (F[1, 378] = 17.65, p < .05, η2p = .045) and for downward identification (F[1, 378] = 5.28, p < .05, η2p = .014). Table 1 Means (standard deviations) for social comparison mechanisms according to gender and grade level

Grade 4 Boys (n = 66) Girls (n = 81) Grade 5 Boys (n = 113) Girls (n = 120) Boys Girls Total (N = 380)

Upward identification

Downward identification

Upward contrast

Downward contrast

2.92 (.68) 2.81 (.80)

1.66 (.71) 1.92 (.80)

1.67 (.86) 2.05 (.79)

2.33 (.86) 2.47 (.71)

2.70 (.87) 2.82 (.85) 2.77 (.81) 2.81 (.83) 2.80a (.82)

1.74 (.79) 1.89 (.82) 1.71 (.76) 1.90 (.81) 1.81b (.79)

1.77 (.74) 2.07 (.78) 1.73 (.69) 2.06 (.78) 1.91c (.76)

2.51 (.80) 2.40 (.72) 2.44 (.82) 2.44 (.76) 2.43d (.77)

In the total line, two of the means with the different letter superscripts are statistically different ( p < .05)

3.2 Predictions regarding perceived scholastic competence The first hypothesis stated that the more pupils identified with downward comparison targets, and contrasted from upward ones, the lower their perceived scholastic competence would be. Conversely, we also expected that the more pupils 1 According to the Mauchly’s test, the sphericity assumption was violated. Therefore, the GreenhouseGeiser correction was applied (ε = .88). This correction changed the ddl value for effects of factor and factor X gender.

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Table 2 Hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis predicting pupils’ perceived scholastic competence Predictors

β

t

p

Step 1 R 2 = .092

F change (df) 39.60 (1,378)

Cognitive abilities

.31

6.30

.001

.22 .08 −.23 −.14 .15

4.59 1.70 −4.19 −2.64 3.08

.001 .09 .001 .01 .001

Step 2 R 2 = .188

18.49 (1.374) Cognitive abilities Upward identification Downward identification Upward contrast Downward contrast

identified with upward comparison targets and contrasted from downward ones, the higher their perceived scholastic competence would be. Stepwise multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine these hypotheses. Given that these analyses showed that gender and school level were unrelated to perceived scholastic competence and that the resulting model was unaffected by their inclusion, they were omitted in the remaining analyses. However, in order to take into account the relations between gender and the social comparison mechanisms, two 2-way interaction terms (gender × upward contrast and gender × downward identification) were created. In Step 1 of the multiple regression, the pupils’ scores on the mental ability test were included in order to control for their level of cognitive abilities. Scores on the social comparison mechanisms were added in Step 2, and the interactional terms in Step 3. None of the interaction variables reached statistical significance, indicating that the links were unrelated to the pupils’ gender. Therefore, the interaction terms were not retained in the final stepwise multiple regression, which included the pupils’ scores on the mental ability test in Step 1 and the social comparison mechanisms in Step 2. Results are presented in Table 2. The final model accounted for 18.8 % of the variance (adjusted) in the pupils’ perceived scholastic competence. According to our first hypothesis, beyond the contribution of cognitive abilities (β = .22), negative links were observed between downward identification (β = −.23) and upward contrast (β = −.14) and the pupils’ perceived scholastic competence. According to our second hypothesis, downward contrast (β = .15) and upward identification (β = .08) were positively linked to the pupils’ perceived scholastic competence, although the latter was marginally significant.

4 Discussion This study aimed to investigate the links between social comparison mechanisms and the perceived scholastic competence of pupils in the later grades of elementary school. These social comparison mechanisms result from a factorial crossing between the twodimensional modalities of comparison: identification versus contrast and upward versus downward valence. To identify with or to contrast from an upward or a downward comparison target appears to have consequences for the pupils’ perceived scholastic

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competence. This study confirms the results from previous studies but also contributes new results which clearly fit into this perspective. Findings of this study are consistent with the results of other studies having shown that one’s reactions to a target of comparison depend mainly on one’s perception of being similar (identification) or being different (contrast) to the target (Smith 2000; Buunk and Ybema 1997). Moreover, in line with previous studies showing the importance of taking into account the perceived positivity or negativity associated with these two mechanisms of interpretation, we observed that elementary school pupils tend to identify with an upward target and contrast themselves from a downward target. This pattern was similar for boys and girls and reflects a tendency for children to prefer and seek targets of comparison which allow a positive view of themselves. On the other hand, girls slightly tend to report more downward identification and upward contrast than boys. We have no ready made explanation for this difference. This could illustrate an effect of gender socialization stereotypes: compared to boys, girls’ expression of negative emotions would be more acceptable. This may lead them to show more propensity than boys to use social comparison mechanisms that involved negative emotions. As a whole, despite the marginally significant link between upward identification and perceived competence, our data provide clear support for our main hypotheses. Regardless of the gender differences in some of the social comparison mechanisms, their relation with perceived scholastic competence holds true for both boys and girls. Two patterns of results are worth noting. The first reveals that downward identification and upward contrast are negatively related to the pupils’ perceived scholastic competence. In other words, the more a pupil identifies himself with classmates whose performance is lower and the more he contrasts himself from successful classmates, the less he feels academically competent. The second pattern of results indicates that upward identification and downward contrast are positively related to the pupils’ perceived scholastic competence. Thus, the more a pupil identifies himself with classmates who are better and the more he contrasts himself from unsuccessful classmates, the more he feels academically competent. Our findings show that beyond the impact of pupils’ level of cognitive ability, their responsiveness to these social comparison mechanisms contributes to the development of their perceived scholastic competence. As suggested by others (Dijkstra et al. 2008), upward identification was preferred by the pupils, but, surprisingly, in this study, it proved to be the weakest mechanism related to the pupils’ feeling of scholastic competence. Conversely, although the report of utilization of downward identification is relatively low, it makes the greater contribution to perceived scholastic competence. Thus, our results highlight the relevance to study together these four mechanisms of social comparison. They also bring out the fact that social comparison mechanisms at play in the construction of perceived scholastic competence do not only depend on the source of the comparison (upward or downward) but also on whether the source is viewed as different or similar to oneself. However, the explanatory power of the model was relatively weak, which suggests that other factors like teacher’s ratings, effects of the context, perceived social support, and educational style, are likely involved in the construction of scholastic self-perceptions. The correlational nature of the study precludes making conclusions about the

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causal role of social comparison mechanisms; it could well be that the existing level of perceived competence directs social comparison towards targets viewed as being similar or different to oneself. In conclusion, there are some educational implications that are worth noting. In an evaluative context such as the school, the findings of this study point to the importance of analyzing the processes of social comparison as strategies that allow pupils to maintaining a positive perceived scholastic competence. Many pupils have negative perceived competence that undermines their learning motivation. Particularly with those children, we suggest that teachers should avoid using comparative judgments that highlight their difference with the more successful classmates. Instead, it might be helpful to direct their attention towards those who are improving and to convince them that they also can improve. Acknowledgments Data collection and preparation of this article were partly supported by grants (Explo’ra Doc and Explo’ra Pro) from the Rhône-Alpes Region (Government of France) and the Jacques-Cartier foundation. The authors would like to thank the school principals, teachers and pupils from Grenoble (France) who participated in this study.

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Author Biographies Natacha Boissicat completed a PhD in education (University Pierre Mendès-France, Grenoble 2). Her current themes of research are the development of pupils’ self-esteem and the impact of social comparison (assimilation and contrast) on the bias in academic self evaluation.

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Pascal Pansu is full professor at the department of Sciences of Education (University Pierre MendèsFrance, Grenoble 2, France). His main research focuses on social judgment, the judgment’s norms and evaluative knowledge. His research interests also concern the mechanisms underlying teachers’ judgments and their effects on pupils’ self-evaluation. They also include the impact of the individual and social beliefs, of the context effects and the stigmatisation on self-image and cognitive performances. Thérèse Bouffard is full professor at the department of Psychology (University of Quebec at Montreal, Canada). Her current themes of research are the development of students’ profiles of motivation, the interplay between cognitive and metacognitive functioning and motivation and the development and correlates of bias of self-evaluation. Fanny Cottin completed a master degree in developmental psychology. She is now working as a clinical psychologist for a school board.

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