Am I the Big Fish? The Effect of Self-Perceived Ordinal Rank on Student Academic Performance in Middle School

Abstract

In the educational setting, it is well known that relative achievement can affect individual outcomes. The ordinal academic rank of a student may affect the student’s academic achievement through a student’s self-confidence, parental expectations, effort provision, etc. In this paper, the author investigates the causal impact of the self-perceived ordinal rank of middle school students on their test scores in Mathematics, Chinese and English using a randomized sample from China. This paper provides the first direct evidence showing that middle school students’ self-perceived ordinal rank has a positive and salient effect on their test scores in a later year in middle school. The results suggest that while students with a relatively better perceived academic performance benefit from perceiving a favorable relative position in study, students who believed that their ordinal rank is among the lowest in class suffer substantially more hurt with respect to future test scores. Moreover, the results suggest that perceiving a higher rank raises a student’s confidence in study and expectations on his/her own educational and occupational achievement in the future and more support from parents, teachers, and classmates in the present. Self-perceived rank also affects students' academic performance through effort provision and the quality of friends. The results also suggest a positive effect of female teachers on the self-perceived rank of female students.