There is a ton of research on what is literally called the big fish little pond effect. The psychologist who really started it all is named Herbert Marsh. He posits because this person has been the best at their high school. They show up at Harvard and suddenly just statistically they're very average, or even maybe below average.
Is it better to be the best player on the worst team or the worst player on the best team? How did Angela cope with her extremely impressive freshman dorm mates? And why won’t Shaquille O'Neal let Charles Barkley have an onion ring?