Dimensional comparisons: An experimental approach to the internal/external frame of reference model.

According to the internal/external frame of reference model (H. W. Marsh, 1986, 1990a), students not only use social comparisons to evaluate their performance (external frame of reference) but they also use dimensional comparisons (internal frame of reference), comparing their own achievement in one subject with that in other subjects. Three experimental studies were conducted to investigate the psychological processes underlying the effects of achievement in one domain on self-perceived competence in another. In Study 1 (N?=?36), high achievement in one domain led to lower self-perceived competence in the other domain. Study 2 (N?=?45) showed inverse effects on self-perceived competence when achievement feedback included explicit dimensional comparison information about students' achievement in both tasks. In Study 3 (N?=?90), dimensional comparison effects were shown even when additional social comparison information was presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Internal comparisons in everyday life.

According to the internal/external frame of reference (I/E) model (H. W. Marsh, 1986), students not only compare their own abilities in a domain with those of other students (social comparison), they also compare their own achievements in different domains (internal comparison). The main purpose of this study was to investigate internal comparison processes in everyday life using an introspective methodology. Over 2 weeks, 67 university students (Study 1) and 65 high school students (Study 2) using a diary instrument recorded more upward than downward internal comparisons, most of them triggered by academic achievement situations. In both studies, multilevel analyses showed links between the direction of comparison and affective state: (a) upward internal comparisons were associated with negative mood states; (b) downward internal comparisons were associated with positive mood states; (c) upward internal comparisons increased positive and decreased negative mood states; (d) downward internal comparisons decreased positive and increased negative mood states. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Large-sample multiple comparisons.

Large-sample multiple comparisons based upon a chi-square analog of Scheffé's theorem are illustrated by means of 5 examples. The examples involve the correlation coefficients of K independent bivariate normal populations; the parameters of K independent binomial populations; the interaction measures of K independent contingency tables; the parameters of K independent normal populations with unequal variances; and the differences between the parameters of K sets of paired normal populations with unequal variances. In addition, a general test statistic is presented to test the null hypothesis that involves the parameters. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multiple comparisons in analysis of variance.

Of the many multiple comparisons techniques described by Ryan (see 34: 1416), the procedure, derived from analysis of variance, of partitioning the degrees of freedom attributable to the main effect into n orthogonal components was omitted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A simple method of recording paired comparisons.

A simple matrix method for recording paired comparison judgments is presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Categorization processes in mental comparisons.

Five experiments explore categorization and category-based congruity effects in mental comparisons. The first 4 experiments concentrate on categorization of infinite-set small items. The experiments vary the additional items presented and whether those items appear once (Experiments 1-2) or repeatedly (Experiments 3-4). Additional items include other small items (Experiment 1), relatively large items (Experiments 2-4), and items involving nonsize dimensions (Experiment 4). The critical small items show a complete congruity effect only in Experiments 1 and 3. Results suggest that categorization of infinite-set items may be based on range information alone (Experiment 1) but that multiple categorizations based on multiple ranges (Experiment 2) may require attentional effort. Results implicate categorization as a central process in mental comparison, despite differences in ease of categorization across paradigm. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Scaling procedures based on the method of paired comparisons.

Thurstone's Case III and Case V, and Guilford's Short-Cut approaches to scaling paired-comparison data were experimentally compared. The stimuli were 10 teacher-approved and 10 teacher-disapproved behavior categories presented in paired-comparison form to 4 groups of school children. Each group contained a sample of 80 Ss and represented a particular sex, experimental condition and an age-grade level in the range grades 6-12. The intercorrelation between the scale values obtained by the 3 methods were approximately unity for both sexes under both experimental conditions. "The results are interpreted as corroborative… . investigations demonstrating the power of less complicated… approaches to scaling… ." 33 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Information criteria for pairwise comparisons.

A new approach is presented for the interpretation of differences among means and proportions. Post hoc techniques, such as Tukey's honestly significant difference procedure, have interpretive problems related to intransitive decisions and technical issues arising from unequal sample sizes or heterogeneity of variance. These concerns can be avoided by considering ordered subsets of means and by using information criterion to select among competing models. This paired-comparisons information-criterion (PCIC) approach is wholistic in nature and does not depend on interpreting a series of statistical tests. Simulation results suggest that a protected version of the PCIC procedure is desirable to minimize failures to detect the null case. This technique is illustrated for independent means, proportions, and means from repeated measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A simplification of Hay's method of recording paired comparisons.

Although Hay's method enables the recording of compared comparisons on one sheet of paper rather than on numerous paired stimulus cards, as before, it can be made even simpler by reducing the number of necessary comparisons by one half. "… the method presented here is probably not much shorter of completion for small numbers of comparison than is the Hay method, however, for large numbers of comparisons the time and effort saved and the number of comparisons obviated by the proposed method could amount to appreciable savings." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Could it happen to you? Predicting the impact of downward comparisons on the self.

Three studies examined the impact of downward comparisons on the self. Worse-off others exerted an impact only when participants drew an analogy between themselves and the other. When participants did draw an analogy, the impact of the other on the self was determined by perceived vulnerability to the other's negative fate. When vulnerability was low, downward comparisons enhanced self-evaluations. When vulnerability was high, downward comparisons deflated self-evaluations, but activated a prevention orientation, boosting motivation aimed at avoiding the negative experience of the other. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A reputation for success (or failure): The association of peer academic reputations with academic self-concept, effort, and performance across the upper elementary grades.

The associations between children's academic reputations among peers and their academic self-concept, effort, and performance were examined in a longitudinal study of 427 students initially enrolled in Grades 3, 4, and 5. Assessments were completed in the fall and spring of 2 consecutive school years and in the fall of a 3rd school year. Peer academic reputation (PAR) correlated moderately strongly with teacher-rated skills and changed over time as a function of grades earned at the prior assessment. Path-analytic models indicated bidirectional associations between PAR and academic self-concept, teacher-rated academic effort, and grade point average. There was little evidence that changes in self-concept mediated the association between PAR and effort and GPA or that changes in effort mediated the association between PAR and GPA. Results suggest that peers may possess unique information about classmates' academic functioning, that children's PARs are psychologically meaningful, and that these reputations may serve as a useful marker of processes that forecast future academic engagement and performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A note on the inconsistency inherent in the necessity to perform multiple comparisons.

The comparison of multiple groups raises the question of the appropriate unit in which to evaluate the research. Thus it would be possible to hold errors constant per comparison, per hypothesis, per experiment, per group, or even per S. "… the most defensible decision is to divide our work into separate tests of hypotheses and to hold constant the expected number of errors per hypothesis tested." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fast similarities: Efficiency advantages of similarity-focused comparisons.

People constantly have to make efficient use of their limited cognitive resources. Recently, T. Mussweiler and K. Epstude (2009) demonstrated that comparative thinking simplifies information processing and increases the efficiency of judgment. However, there are different types of comparative thinking. While comparing 2 entities, people may focus on either similarities or dissimilarities between target and standard. The authors propose that these 2 comparative thinking styles differ in their efficiency. Specifically, the authors hypothesize that comparisons with a focus on similarities lead to more focused information processing and faster judgments than comparisons with a dissimilarity focus. In line with these hypotheses, the authors demonstrate that participants are indeed faster at judging the similarity of 2 stimuli (Study 1) and that they search for less target information in a comparative judgment task (Study 2) if they focus on similarities rather than dissimilarities. Focusing on similarities thus appears to be the more efficient comparative thinking style. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social comparison and big-fish-little-pond effects on self-concept and other self-belief constructs: Role of generalized and specific others.

Two studies integrate the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE; negative effects of class-average achievement on academic self-concept, ASC), which is based upon educational psychological research, with related social psychological research that is based on social comparison theory. Critical distinctions are the nature of the social comparison processes that are based on generalized-other (class- or school-average) or individual (target comparison classmate) comparisons, and the nature of self-belief constructs that invoke normative (social comparison) or absolute frames of reference. In a large cross-national study (26 countries; 3,851 schools; 103,558 students), school-average ability negatively affected ASC but had little effect on 4 other self-belief constructs that did not invoke social comparison processes. In Study 2 (64 classes; 764 students), 2 sources of social comparison information (class-average achievement and achievement of an individually selected target comparison classmate) each had distinct, substantial negative effects on agency self-beliefs that invoked social comparison processes but not on metacognitive responses that did not invoke these processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of partial pairing on scale values derived from the method of paired comparisons.

How can the measurement of attitudes and opinions, by the use of scales involving the method of paired comparisons, be improved? An attempt was made to describe the relationship between scale values derived from partial and complete paired comparison judgments. "One complete and five partial pairing schedules were used, and 60 Ss, who had been randomly assigned to one of these six conditions, scaled the names of 30 nationality groups. The results of the study indicated that partial pairing scale values rather closely approximated those obtained from a complete pairing when the number of observations was reduced as much as 50% of the complete pairing matrix. Beyond this point further reduction seemed to yield a more drastic modification in the scale values obtained. The rating task implications of partial pairing were discussed." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An alternative to Marascuilo's "large-sample multiple comparisons" for proportions.

Comments on the original article by L. A. Marascuilo (see record 1966-07190-001) which discusses large-sample multiple comparisons. An alternative to Marascuilo's χ2 analogue of Scheffé's theorem for performing tests on multiple linear contrasts among proportions coming from K independent populations is described. Based on the arcsin transformation of p, the proposed alternative is suitable for small samples and is computationally simpler. Tests of complex contrasts are also exemplified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Why Multicollinearity Matters: A Reexamination of Relations Between Self-Efficacy, Self-Concept, and Achievement.

Multicollinearity is a well-known general problem, but it also seriously threatens valid interpretations in structural equation models. Illustrating this problem, J. Pietsch, R. Walker, and E. Chapman (2003) found paths leading to achievement were apparently much larger for self-efficacy (.55) than self-concept (-.05), suggesting--erroneously, as the authors' reanalysis shows--that self-efficacy was a better predictor of achievement. However, because standard errors for these two paths were so huge (.25) thanks to the extremely high correlation between self-concept and self-efficacy (r = .93), interpretations were problematic. In a model comparison approach to this multicollinearity problem, constraining these two paths to be equal provided a better, more parsimonious fit to the data and also substantially reduced the standard errors (from .25 to .03). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-esteem, academic self-concept, and achievement: How the learning environment moderates the dynamics of self-concept.

The authors examine the directionality of effects between global self-esteem, domain-specific academic self-concepts, and academic achievement. Special emphasis is placed on learning environments as potential moderators of the direction of these effects. According to the meritocracy principle presented here, so-called bottom-up effects (i.e., self-esteem is influenced by academic self-concept) are more pronounced in meritocratic learning environments than in ego-protective learning environments. This hypothesis was examined using a three-wave cross-lagged panel design with a large sample of 7th graders from East and West Germany, a total of 5,648 students who were tested shortly after German reunification. Reciprocal effects were found between self-esteem, academic self-concept, and academic achievement. In conformance with the meritocracy principle, support for bottom-up effects was stronger in the meritocratic learning environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Additional "post mortem" tests of experimental comparisons.

Scheffe's technique for assessing all possible combinations of mean comparisons after the analysis of variance is judged to be overly conservative for most comparisons of interest to psychologists. Techniques yielding more sensitive tests of comparisons are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-esteem, construal, and comparisons with the self, friends, and peers.

Extending the better than average effect, 3 studies examined self-, friend, and peer comparisons of personal attributes. Participants rated themselves as better off than friends, who they rated as superior to generalized peers. The exception was in direct comparisons, where the self and friends were not strongly differentiated on unambiguous negative attributes. Self-esteem and construal played moderating roles, with persons with high self-esteem (HSEs) exploiting both ambiguous positive and ambiguous negative traits to favor themselves. Persons lower in self-esteem exploited ambiguous positive traits in their favor but did not exploit ambiguous negative traits. Across self-esteem level, ratings of friends versus peers were exaggerated when attributes were ambiguous. HSEs seemed to take advantage of ambiguity more consistently to present favorable self-views; people with low self-esteem used ambiguity to favor their friends but were reluctant to minimize their own faults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)