Revisiting the Role of Social and Dimensional Comparisons in the Internal/External Frame of Reference Model: A Systematic Comparison of the Classic and the Difference I/E Model

Abstract The classic internal/external frame of reference (I/E) model describes the effects of students’ math and verbal achievements on their math and verbal self-concepts. It assumes that social (external) comparisons (with achievements of others) are reflected in positive within-domain effects, whereas dimensional (internal) comparisons (with achievements in other domains) are reflected in negative between-domain effects. In recent decades, these assumptions have received broad empirical support. However, Wolff (2021) argued that the positive within-domain effects in the classic I/E model may also reflect dimensional comparison effects, leading to an overestimation of the impact of within-domain achievements (including social comparisons). To illustrate this argument, he proposed the difference I/E model as a reparameterization of the classic I/E model, in which self-concepts in a given domain are regressed on the difference between achievements in the same and the other domain, rather than on absolute achievement in the other domain, to draw inferences about the strength of dimensional comparison effects. To date, however, a systematic comparison of the two I/E model specifications is still lacking. In this research, we therefore compared the two I/E model specifications across six empirical studies. Overall, these studies provided evidence consistent with the assumption that the within-domain effects in the classic I/E model (but not in the difference I/E model) also reflect between-domain achievement effects (including dimensional comparison effects) and that relative achievement information is salient when students evaluate their self-concepts, thereby supporting the theoretical relevance of the difference-score parameterization. Implications for prior and future I/E model research are discussed.