Effect of Academic Comparisons on the Subjective Well-Being of Chinese Secondary School Students

We studied the effect of academic comparisons on the subjective well-being (SWB) of 330 students from 3 Chinese secondary schools. The results showed that the SWB of Chinese secondary school students (a) is relatively low; (b) is affected primarily by 4 demographic factors, namely, grade, gender, academic achievements, and family financial background; and (c) is significantly affected by academic comparisons in that self-comparison, upward comparison, and parallel comparison have a positive impact on SWB, and downward comparison has a negative impact on SWB. Both parents and teachers should guide students to draw appropriate academic comparisons.