Self-esteem and Ability Grouping: a Hong Kong investigation of the Big Fish Little Pond Effect

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to test the strength of the relationships between student self-esteem, and the ability group of the school band and class stream they attend, as well as their self-perceived academic performance in a non-Western context. Responses of 280 Hong Kong secondary school students to the Chinese Adolescent Self-Esteem Scale were analysed by Performance 2 Stream 2 Band Multivariate Analysis of Variance. Statistically significant main effects for Performance and Stream, but not Band were found. Higher self-esteem was reported by students who perceived their academic performance as higher and who attended lower ability stream classes. The findings supported the Big Fish Little Pond effect of ability grouping within, but not between schools. Implications of the findings for school policies such as classes for the gifted and inclusion of children with learning difficulties are also discussed.