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Phantom Behavioral Assimilation Effects: Systematic Biases in Social Comparison Choice Studies

2010; Wiley; Volume: 78; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00630.x

1467-6494

Herbert W. Marsh, Marjorie Seaton, Hans Kuyper, Florence Dumas, Pascal Huguet, Isabelle Régner, Abraham P. Buunk, Jean‐Marc Monteil, Frederick X. Gibbons,

Social and Cultural Dynamics

Journal of PersonalityVolume 78, Issue 2 p. 671-710 Phantom Behavioral Assimilation Effects: Systematic Biases in Social Comparison Choice Studies Herbert W. Marsh, Herbert W. Marsh Oxford UniversitySearch for more papers by this authorMarjorie Seaton, Marjorie Seaton University of Western SydneySearch for more papers by this authorHans Kuyper, Hans Kuyper University of GroningenSearch for more papers by this authorFlorence Dumas, Florence Dumas Aix-Marseille University Jean Moulin Lyon III UniversitySearch for more papers by this authorPascal Huguet, Pascal Huguet Aix-Marseille UniversitySearch for more papers by this authorIsabelle Régner, Isabelle Régner Aix-Marseille University University of ToulouseSearch for more papers by this authorAbraham P. Buunk, Abraham P. Buunk University of GroningenSearch for more papers by this authorJean-Marc Monteil, Jean-Marc Monteil Université Blaise Pascal Clermont-FerrandSearch for more papers by this authorFrederick X. Gibbons, Frederick X. Gibbons Dartmouth CollegeSearch for more papers by this author Herbert W. Marsh, Herbert W. Marsh Oxford UniversitySearch for more papers by this authorMarjorie Seaton, Marjorie Seaton University of Western SydneySearch for more papers by this authorHans Kuyper, Hans Kuyper University of GroningenSearch for more papers by this authorFlorence Dumas, Florence Dumas Aix-Marseille University Jean Moulin Lyon III UniversitySearch for more papers by this authorPascal Huguet, Pascal Huguet Aix-Marseille UniversitySearch for more papers by this authorIsabelle Régner, Isabelle Régner Aix-Marseille University University of ToulouseSearch for more papers by this authorAbraham P. Buunk, Abraham P. Buunk University of GroningenSearch for more papers by this authorJean-Marc Monteil, Jean-Marc Monteil Université Blaise Pascal Clermont-FerrandSearch for more papers by this authorFrederick X. Gibbons, Frederick X. Gibbons Dartmouth CollegeSearch for more papers by this author First published: 15 March 2010 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00630.xCitations: 13 concerning this article should be addressed to Professor Herbert W. Marsh, Department of Education, University of Oxford, 15 Norham Gardens, Oxford OX2 6PY, UK. E-mail: [email protected]. The authors thank Hart Blanton, Ladd Wheeler, Jerry Suls, John Nezlek, Peter Tymms, John Hattie, and Oliver Lüdtke for comments on earlier drafts of this paper. Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Abstract ABSTRACT Consistent with social comparison theory (SCT), Blanton, Buunk, Gibbons, and Kuyper (1999) and Huguet, Dumas, Monteil, and Genestoux (2001) found that students tended to choose comparison targets who slightly outperformed them (i.e., upward comparison choices), and this had a beneficial effect on subsequent performance—a behavioral assimilation effect (BAE). We show (Studies 1 and 2) that this apparent BAE is due, in part, to uncontrolled measurement error in pretest achievement. However, using simulated data (Study 3), these phantom BAEs were eliminated with latent-variable models with multiple indicators. In Studies 4 and 5, latent-variable models were applied to the Blanton et al. and Huguet et al. data, resulting in substantially smaller but still significantly positive BAEs. 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