inclusion/exclusion model of judgment, assimilation effects occur when the target of comparison is included in the mental representation of the self or viewed as similar to the self. Conversely, contrast effects occur when the target of comparison is excluded from the mental representation of the self or viewed as distinct from the self. Since academic self-concept tends to be negatively related with group achievement, it is assumed that the contrast process is stronger than the assimilation process. Class average achievement vs. friend average achievement When forming academic self-concept (ASC), the question arises of classroom friend achievement or class achievement having a larger effect. One hypothesis suggests that friend average achievement has the larger effect. This is known as the friend dominance hypothesis and is consistent with the local dominance effect model. The local dominance effect model posits that people tend to rely on the most local comparison source when there are multiple comparison sources available. Friends are considered a more local source for comparison than classmates, so this indicates that friends should have a larger effect on ASC than classmates. An alternative hypothesis suggests that class-average achievement has a larger effect on ASC than friend-average achievement. Several studies support this hypothesis. The first showed that individuals showed stronger assimilation effects toward their comparison target when they were part of a group or when they focused on emotional bonding. Huguet et al. (2009) supported the idea that friends may induce smaller contrast effects than classmates in addition to inducing larger assimilation effects than classmates. The hypothesis that class-average achievement has the larger effect has garnered the most support. Wouters, Colpin, Van Damme, De Laet, and Verschueren (2013) compared the effects of friend-average achievement and class-average achievement on global academic, math, and language self-concept. The study found that the negative effect of class-average achievement was always greater than the negative effect of friend-average achievement. In some cases, the effect of friend average achievement was not even statistically significant. These findings do not support the local dominance effect model. Moderators Personality factors The BFLPE is moderated by several personality factors. Students who are higher in narcissism or lower in neuroticism experienced a weaker BFLPE on their math self-concept. This suggests that the assimilation process might be stronger for these individuals. Jonkmann (2013) also found that students who are engaged academically experience stronger BFLPE, regardless of whether they were mastery or performance oriented. Motivation