Big Fish in Little Ponds Aspire More: Mediation and Cross-Cultural Generalizability of School-Average Ability Effects on Self-Concept and Career Aspirations in Science

Autor/inn/en	Nagengast, Benjamin; Marsh, Herbert W.
Titel	Big Fish in Little Ponds Aspire More: Mediation and Cross-Cultural Generalizability of School-Average Ability Effects on Self-Concept and Career Aspirations in Science
Quelle	In: Journal of Educational Psychology, 104 (2012) 4, S.1033-1053 (21 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0022-0663
DOI	10.1037/a0027697
Schlagwörter	Academic Achievement; Self Concept; Developed Nations; Developing Nations; Context Effect; Structural Equation Models; High Achievement; Occupational Aspiration; Foreign Countries; Prediction; Generalization; Correlation; Secondary School Students; Student Attitudes; Science Careers; Career Choice; Science Education; Cross Cultural Studies; Program for International Student Assessment + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Schulleistung; Selbstkonzept; Developed countries; Industriestaat; Industrieland; Developing country; Developing countries; Entwicklungsland; Berufsneigung; Berufsziel; Ausland; Vorhersage; Korrelation; Sekundarschüler; Schülerverhalten; Naturwissenschaftliche Bildung; Cultural comparison; Kulturvergleich
Abstract	Being schooled with other high-achieving peers has a detrimental influence on students' self-perceptions: School-average and class-average achievement have a negative effect on academic self-concept and career aspirations--the big-fish-little-pond effect. Individual achievement, on the other hand, predicts academic self-concept and career aspirations positively. Research from Western and developed countries implies that the negative contextual effect on career aspirations is mediated by academic self-concept. Using data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006 (a total of 398,750 15-year-old students from 57 countries), we test the generalizability of this mediation model in science using a general multilevel structural equation modeling framework. Individual achievement was positively related to academic self-concept (52 countries) and career aspirations (42 countries). The positive effect on career aspirations was mediated by self-concept in 54 countries. The negative effects of school-average achievement on self-concept (50 countries) and career aspirations (31 countries) also generalized well. After controlling for self-concept at both the individual and the school level, there were significant indirect contextual effects in 34 countries--evidence for mediation of the contextual effect of school-average achievement on career intentions by academic self-concept. (Contains 4 tables and 5 figures.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10