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Dr Marjorie Seaton
Marjorie Seaton completed her PhD at the University of Western Sydney in 2008. The main focus of Marjorie’s PhD research was the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE), whereby students in high-ability schools have lower academic self-concepts than equally able students in average- and low-ability schools. In her thesis, titled The Big-Fish-Little-Pond effect under the grill: Tests of its universality, a search for moderators, and the role of social comparison, Marjorie tested the universality of the BFLPE and examined a variety of constructs to assess their moderating effect on the BFLPE. Her thesis also elucidated the relation between social comparison processes and the BFLPE.
Marjorie is currently involved in a study that aims to explicate ways in which to maximise the potential of high-ability young Australians. This research aims to improve Australia’s capacity to educate high-ability students by investigating the impact of different settings on their educational outcomes and psychosocial wellbeing.
Marjorie is also a trained teacher, who has had commercial experience both in Australia and overseas.
Qualifications
MA (Glasgow), DipT (Jordanhill), GradDip (Macquarie), BA (Macquarie), PhD (UWS)
Selected Publications
Book Chapters
Seaton, M., Craven, R.G. & Marsh, H.W. (2008) East Meets West: An Examination of the Big-Fish-Little-Pond effect in Western and non-Western countries, in H.W. Marsh, R. Craven, & D. McInerney (Eds) Self-Processes, Learning and Enabling Human Potential: Dynamic New Approaches. International Advances in Self Research, Volume 3, Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Journal Articles
Jackman, K., Wilson, I.G., Seaton, M. & Craven, R. (2011) Big fish in a big pond: A study of academic self-concept in first year medical students. BMC Medical Education, 11(48).
Seaton, M., Marsh, H.W., Yeung, A. & Craven, R.G. (2011) The big fish Down Under: Examining moderators of the Big-Fish-Little-Pond effect for Australia's high achievers. Australian Journal of Education, 55(2), 5-26.
Marsh, H.W., Seaton, M., Kuyper, H., Dumas, F., Huguet, P., Regner, I., Buunk, B.P., Monteil, J. & Gibbons, F. (2010) Phantom behavioral assimilation effects: Systematic biases in social comparison choice studies. Journal of Personality, 78(2), 671-710.
Seaton, M., Marsh, H.W. & Craven, R.G. (2010) Big-Fish-Little-Pond-Effect: Generalizability and Moderation - Two Sides of the Same Coin. American Educational Research Journal, 47(2), 390-433.
Bodkin-Andrews, G.H., Seaton, M., Nelson, G.F. Craven, R.G. & Yeung, A.S. (2010) Questioning the General Self-Esteem Vaccine: General Self-Esteem, Racial Discrimination, and Standardised Achievement across Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Students. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 10(1), 1-21.
Seaton, M., Marsh, H.W. & Craven, R.G. (2009) Earning its place as a pan-human theory: Universality of the Big-Fish-Little-Pond effect (BFLPE) across 41 culturally and economically diverse countries. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(2), 403-419.
Huguet, P., Dumas, F., Marsh, H.W., Regner, I., Wheeler, L., Suls, J., Seaton, M. & Nezlek, J. (2009) Clarifying the role of social comparison in the Big-Fish-Little-Pond effect (BFLPE): An integrative study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 156-170.
Dixon, R.M. & Seaton, M. (2008) The big fish strikes again, but in a different place: Social comparison theory and children with special needs. International Journal of the Humanities, 5(12), 151-157.
Marsh, H.W., Seaton, M., Trautwein, U., Lüdtke, O., Hau, K.T., O’Mara, A.J. & Craven, R.G. (2008) The Big-Fish-Little-Pond effect stands up to critical scrutiny: Implications for theory, methodology, and future research. Educational Psychological Review, 20, 319-350.
Seaton, M., Marsh, H.W., Dumas, F., Huguet, P., Monteil, J., Regner, I., Blanton, H., Buunk, B.P., Gibbons, F., Kuyper, H., Suls, J. & Wheeler, L. (2008) In search of the big fish: Investigating the coexistence of the Big-Fish-Little-Pond effect with the positive effects of upward comparisons. British Journal of Social Psychology, 47, 73-103.
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