THE SITUATION OF SOCIAL COMPARATIVE BEHAVIOR IN THE LEARNING OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS (RESEARCH IN HA TINH PROVINCE, VIETNAM)

ABSTRACT

Social comparison in the learning of high school students greatly affects psychophysiology, especially in learning as well as the formation and development of students’ personalities. The study was conducted through the survey method by questionnaire, in-depth interviews with students to assess the status of social comparative behavior in the learning of high school students in Ha Tinh province. Research results show that 59,.2% of students regularly perform social comparison in learning, in which, students in specialized schools perform this behavior more often than students in normal schools; Male students perform this behavior higher than female students; Students in grades 10 and 11 performed this behavior higher than students in grade 12; Students with good academic performance often make more social comparisons than students with good, average, weak, and poor academic performance.

АННОТАЦИЯ

Социальное сравнение в обучении старшеклассников оказывает большое влияние на психофизиологию, особенно в обучении, а также на формирование и развитие личности учащихся. Исследование проводилось методом опроса путем анкетирования, глубинных интервью со студентами для оценки состояния социального сравнительного поведения в обучении старшеклассников провинции Хатинь. Результаты исследований показывают, что 59,2 % учащихся регулярно проводят социальное сравнение в обучении, причем учащиеся специализированных школ совершают это поведение чаще, чем учащиеся обычных школ; студенты мужского пола проявляют это поведение выше, чем студентки; учащиеся 10-х и 11-х классов проявляли это поведение выше, чем учащиеся 12-х классов; Учащиеся с хорошей успеваемостью часто проводят больше социальных сравнений, чем учащиеся с хорошей, средней, слабой и плохой успеваемостью.

Keywords: social comparison, learning, social comparison in learning, student, Vietnam.

Ключевые слова: cоциальное сравнение, обучение, cоциальное сравнение в обучении, школьник, Вьетнам.

1. Introduction

Social comparison is a common phenomenon in learning (Florence, Pascal, Jean-Marc, Claire, John, 2005). People can make comparisons naturally and easily, even when the comparison is not appropriate. Social comparisons may not be intentional, but they may unconsciously compare. (Wood, J. V, 1996). Leon Festinger (1954), the father of the theory of social comparison, first hypothesized that people have an instinct to evaluate their opinions and abilities. That is, the ability to self-assess is the motivation for people to perform social comparison behavior.

In addition, the use of social comparison for self-assessment can be considered as a major developmental step in children in terms of their ability (Pieternel, Hans, Greetje, Abraham Yvonne, 2005). Specifically, Ruble and others have suggested that attention to and use of social comparison information in self-assessment progresses through a series of age-related stages, including merely seeking information about one's performance and that of others, comparing one's performance with that of others for rewards commensurate with achievement and the use of social comparison information to judge which one's presentation is good or bad. The authors have presented different explanations for this seemingly contradictory finding. First, they argue that as students become more self-aware, they can avoid overt competition (Feldlaufer et al., 1988).

Social comparative behavior in the learning comes from self-evaluation motivation and is also influenced by classroom context. According to Lubbers, average class performance affects students' self-esteem, such that low-achieving students in high-achieving classes have low self-esteem. Besides, the school system has certain values ​​that can cause children to compare themselves with other students in the class, especially with students with good achievements. Intuitively conveyed in many ways, students understand that it is important to strive to outperform others to be good - the message is repeated every day by the teacher, thus achieving academic achievement. follow up (Florence, Pascal, Jean, Claire, John, 2005).

When we compare ourselves to someone better than us, we perform an upward social comparison. In the learning, we often apply the above comparison to motivate ourselves to work harder. When asked whom individuals would like to compare themselves to, most of them chose to compare with the person who got the higher score (Wheeler, 1966).

Students can compare many aspects of learning such as grades, discipline training, physical training, sports training, etc. The object of upward social comparison behavior is classmate, friend, the one whose studies in the same field have higher achievement. The classroom environment is where students mainly perform upward comparative behavior (Pieternel, 2005). However, we must keep in mind that when comparing upward, students need to share some similarities with their comparison goals to enable them to identify with the comparison goals and view them as a source of information, meaningful comparative information (Schunk, 1987; Wheeler & Suls, 2005). For example, Schunk argues that a student is more likely to improve self-efficacy when watching a student of the same age successfully perform a task than when observing an older student or a real adult perform that task. Therefore, the ideal comparison target for students seems to include a classmate who is similar in age, sex, or opposite sex but has a better record than them.

In classroom social comparison, having students rate themselves against someone inferior to them in some way is called a “downward social comparison”. Wood (1996) suggested that when there is a psychological threat, people tend to compare under. The comparison below will make us more confident, and at the same time bring a comforting effect. A small example is that when we do not do well on a test, it is somewhat more pleasant to compare with those who do worse. Or sometimes you may feel very bad when you alone fail a subject, but happy when your whole class fails.

Lubbers (2007) suggested that students with more than one friend tended to compare with the highest achiever if they scored equal or better and the lowest achiever (the similarity principle). In addition, when their GPA differs significantly from the average of their friends, a larger number (albeit still a minority) will look to people other than friends to compare their scores. . That is, the subject of the lower social comparison includes both close friends in the class and friends who are not close in and out of the classroom.

Thus, studying the current status of social comparison in student learning will assess the extent, subject, object, and form of this behavior. From there, there are grounds to adjust the behavior of social comparison in a positive way to help students achieve good academic performance as well as a perfect and developed personality.

2. Methods

To assess the current situation, the factors affecting the social comparison behavior in the learning to the learning outcomes of high school students, the study used the following methods:

- Survey method by questionnaire

The study was carried out in 2021 through a questionnaire survey with 1166 students, 400 parents, and 200 teachers at four high schools in Ha Tinh province. The structure of the survey sample is shown in Table 1.

Table 1.

Characteristics of the student survey sample

From Table 1, it can be seen that, for students, out of a total of 1166 students, 486 are male (41.7%) and 680 are female (58.3%). The selection of survey subjects between male and female students has a relative balance. The school has a sample of students who are representative of the region. Out of a total of 1166 students participating in the survey, Ha Tinh High School for the Gifted - representing students in the city, has 283 students (24.3%), Nguyen Trung Thien High School - representing students in the delta. Along the coast, there were 293 students (25.1%), Ly Tu Trong High School - representative of students in rural areas near the city, 305 students (26.2%), and Ham Nghi High School - representative of the university. Born in mountainous areas, 285 (24.4%). The grade level participating in the survey, for students from 4 schools, there were 442 students (37.9%) in 10th grade, 354 in 11th grade (30.4%), 370 12th grade in (31.7%). Regarding the academic results of students in the previous semester, out of a total of 1166 students, 496 (42.6%) achieved excellent academic performance, 332 students (28.5%) achieved good academic performance, 315 students achieved good academic performance. average (27%), 23 students with a weak academic ability (1.9%).

The collected results are processed through the software SPSS, Version 22.0 The scoring convention for evaluating the level of performance of social comparison behavior in the learning is shown in Table 2.

Table 2.

Table of estimation of mean

- In-depth interview method

The study conducted in-depth interviews with 10 students from 4 high schools in Ha Tinh province, 2 people were selected from each school, including 1 male and 1 female, only 4 people from Ha Tinh High School for the Gifted. The purpose of using this method is to further assess the status of students' social comparison behavior in the learning.

3. Results and Discussion

Research results show that high school students often perform social comparison behavior in the learning (M= 2,22; SD= 0,66), out of a total of 1166 students surveyed, 59,2% of students "regularly" perform social comparison behavior in the learning. 32,4% of students chose “very often” as the degree to which the social comparison behavior was performed. Occupying 5,7% is the number of students who choose the "sometimes" option, 2,7% of the students who choose the "never" option. Thus, social comparison behavior in the learning of high school students is quite common, only a few students have ever done this behavior.

On the other hand, when considering the gender aspect of social self-comparison in the learning, male students perform this behavior (M=2.22, SD=0,665) more often than female students ( M=2.21; SD=0.665). However, this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.642 > 0.05).

Table 3.

The level of social comparison in learning among high school students in Ha Tinh province

*p<0,05

The table shows that social comparison behavior in the learning is common and frequent in high schools in Ha Tinh province. Students at Ha Tinh High School for the Gifted performed this behavior more than other schools (M= 2,28, SD=0,716). The level of behavioral performance of students at Ham Nghi High School is the lowest (M=2,15, SD=0,675). Meanwhile, the level of performing social comparison behavior in the learning of high school students Ly Tu Trong and Nguyen Trung Thien is similar. However, besides, students of Ha Tinh High School for the Gifted performed this behavior higher than students at Ham Nghi High School with a statistically significant difference (p=0.030),  the rest of the difference was not significant. Statistical significance of the level  of performing social comparison behavior in learning of students between high schools.

The fact that students of Ha Tinh High School for the Gifted perform this behavior higher than students in other schools, it can be understood that, in gifted schools, students with good academic performance and high academic results will tend to do it often social comparison behavior for learning purposes such as improving grades, achievements, etc. because there the learning movement is stronger, the academic competition is higher than in other schools.

However, it cannot be completely asserted that the fact that students in city schools have a higher rate of "regular" social comparison behavior than other schools is due to the learning environment. Because the level of difference in the percentage of students performing social comparison behavior in learning in high schools in Ha Tinh province is not high. According to the results of an in-depth interview with H., Ha Tinh High School for the Gifted, “For me, the educational environment in Chuyen with many good friends around makes me often compare in study to motivate myself to improve. However, I think that there are still many other factors to determine how well students compare socially in learning such as from yourself, learning motivation or external factors”.

Moreover, analyzing the level of performance of social comparison behavior in the learning across grade levels shows that there is a difference (see table 2.2.1.b).

Table 4.

The level of implementation of social comparison in the learning among high school students in Ha Tinh province

Research data from table 4, shows that students in 10th and 11th grade (M=2.23) tend to perform social comparison behavior in the learning more than students in 12th grade. (M=2.18, SD=0.657). However, there was no statistically significant difference between grades.

Analyzing the level of performance of social comparison behavior in the learning in correlation with students' academic results in the previous semester also found a certain difference (see table 5).

Table 5.

Level of performance of social comparison in the learning of high school students in Ha Tinh province in relation to learning results

The above research data show that students with excellent academic performance (M=2.25, SD=0,670) perform more social comparison behavior in the learning than students with lower academic achievement. In addition, students with average and weak academic results also tend to perform this behavior lower than other students. However, this difference is not statistically significant, that is, although students have different learning abilities, the performance of social comparison behavior in the learning is similar.

4. Conclusions

Based on analyzing the actual situation of performing social comparison behavior in the learning of high school students in Ha Tinh province, it can be concluded that high school students in Ha Tinh Hanh province often perform social comparison behavior in school. Examining the level of performance of social comparative behavior in the learning of high school students in Ha Tinh province about gender, grade, school, and learning results, it was found that male students performed the behavior this is more female; 10th and 11th graders perform more than 12th graders; Students of specialized schools often perform this behavior higher than students of non-specialized schools, students with good academic performance often compare in learning more than other students. However, these differences were not statistically significant.

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