Students have different reference groups at their disposal in the school environment; however, the class to which they are assigned is the dominant social context for daily experiences. Thus, evaluations by teachers and peers which are concerned with achievement distribution occur in this limited reference group. In an investigation of the relationship between achievement anxiety and social context, a questionnaire containing an achievement anxiety scale was administered to 1479 students in grades 5 and 8 in the 3 types of West German schools (Hauptschule, Realschule, and Gymnasium). Analysis of the data revealed that, in each type of school and at each grade level, the high achievers had the lowest anxiety scores and the low achievers had the highest anxiety scores. Findings provided evidence for the occurrence of reference group effects in the school environment. Results obtained from comparing two extreme achievement levels in two schools supported the assumptions of relative deprivation and relative gratification concerning the well-being of students. (NRB)