Beyond Up and Down: Competitiveness as a Moderator of Multidirectional Social Comparisons in Adolescent Learning

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Thursday 2:15pm
  In Poster Session: Emotion, Identity, and Social Contexts in Learning

Abstract

We investigated how multidirectional academic social comparisons predict adolescent students’ academic motivation and achievement, and. We also explored the potential moderator role of competitiveness in these relationships. Results based on a group of 1,574 middle school students revealed that different directions of academic social comparison demonstrated distinct predictive patterns. Specifically, upward comparison positively predicted achievement, both directly and indirectly through enhanced self-efficacy. In contrast, downward comparison negatively predicted achievement via self-efficacy or effort cost depending on students’ level of competitiveness. These findings underscore the nuanced role of competitiveness in the social comparison process and highlight the importance of motivational beliefs, particularly self-efficacy and effort cost, as mechanisms linking social comparison to academic achievement.

Authors

• Yuejia Gao, East China Normal University

• Yi Jiang, East China Normal University