April has recently moved from a large academically focused high school to a new school in a small town. In her old school, most of her classmates were high-achievers with high aspirations for academic careers. In her new school, academics are not a big focus and, in fact, April has among the best grades in her class and feels great about her school achievement. This situation best illustrates the ________ effect.

In sociology and psychology, the "big-fish in a little pond effect" refers to the fact that individuals compare themselves to their own peers. Therefore, when high capable individuals are among people who are equally capable and smart they feel less capable than when these same capable individuals are placed with people who are less capable and in this second situation they have a higher self-concept. In other words, it is better to be a big fish in a little pond (you'd compare yourself with other "little fish") than to be a big fish in a big pond where all the rests of your peers are "big fish".

In this example, April moved from an academically focused high school with high-achievers classmates, to a new school who is not really focused as much in academics and she is among the best in her class and feels great about this achievement. We can see that in her previous schools she was a "big fish in a big pond" and now she is a "big fish in a little pond" and her self concept has increased because of this. Therefore, this illustrates the big fish in a little pond effect.