What does a higher z-score indicate about a data point in relation to the mean?

A higher z-score indicates that a data point is above the mean of the dataset. The z-score measures how many standard deviations a particular data point is from the mean. When the z-score is positive, it signifies that the data point is located above the mean, reflecting a value that is greater than the average of the dataset. This is a key concept in statistics, as it allows for the comparison of individual scores in relation to the overall distribution. In contrast, a lower z-score would indicate that a data point is below average or potentially even negative, representing values below the mean. Therefore, higher z-scores are directly associated with better-than-average performance or values in a statistical sense.