Summary Do Nerds Refuse Achievement? Project idea and first data from a study on mathematical achievement Whoever compares schooling in Germany and North America, will soon come across differences with everyday relevance for the school life of students that have rarely been addressed in educational research: Besides the different attitudes towards cheating — being a complete taboo in North America, but a lesser sin in Germany — there is the attitude towards high achievement by peers. Whereas in North America high achievement seems highly valued, high-achieving students in Germany are often accused of being nerds or teacher’s pets, particularly in grades 7–10. The present article deals with the extent to which the nerd accusation has consequences for real achievement in mathematics. The hypothesis is formulated that fear of negative sanctions by peers, as a consequence of being particularly good in math, encourages high achievers to reduce their efforts. Particularly among high-achieving grils, this is presumed to even affect the objective achievement potential in math in the long run. Firstly, the research idea for a study funded by the German Research Council (DFG) in the framework of its focal program on “Quality of Education in Schools” is presented. Secondly, first empirical material from two pilot studies is presented in order to underscore the plausibility of the research idea.