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.