Extreme Social Comparisons: The Big Fish in a Small Pond Effect on Self-Evaluation

https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550620956535

Commentary

This study investigates a phenomenon known as the frog pond effect.

The frog pond effect means that people evaluate themselves more favorably when they are big fish in a small pond than when they are small fish in a big pond. This tendency can be exacerbated by extreme social comparison conditions.

Participants in Study 1 were told that they were either big (small) fish in a small (big) pond or big (small) fish in a small (huge) pond.

The results provided evidence for the effect of big fish in small ponds and showed it to be significantly greater than the effect of small fish in big ponds.

Study 2 shows that the effect of big fish in small ponds reflects rank information in the ignored group, and Study 3 suggests that it inflates the view of self.

These three studies are considered the first experiments to document the very robust (overall) effect of big fish in a small pond.

They suggest that extreme social comparisons can magnify self-evaluation tendencies.