DIMENSIONAL AND SOCIAL COMPARISONS OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS

Dimensional and social comparisons of achievements are presented as pr edictors of the subject-specific self-concept of ability. In this stud y N = 281 students were immediately following the announcement of thei r exam results asked to choose one other student (social comparison) a nd one other subject (dimensional comparison) as comparison targets, H igh self-concept students as well as students who received high grades were more likely to engage in social and dimensional downward compari sons. Low self-concept students (Students with poor grades, resp.) ten ded to prefer social and dimensional upward comparisons. According to the main hypothesis, it was shown that in particular dimensional upwar d comparisons led to lower:scares in self-concept ability. Results gav e support to the VE-Model in an investigation which explicitly conside red both kinds of comparison processes.