ERIC Number: EJ1094049
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-0671
EISSN: N/A
Peers and Academic Achievement: A Longitudinal Study on Selection and Socialization Effects of In-Class Friends
Fortuin, Janna; van Geel, Mitch; Vedder, Paul
Journal of Educational Research, v109 n1 p1-6 2016
The present study was conducted to analyze whether in-class friends influence each other's grades, and whether adolescents tend to select friends that are similar to them in terms of academic achievement. During 1 academic year, 542 eighth-grade students (M age = 13.3 years) reported on 3 different occasions on their in-class friendship networks. At these occasions their report card grades for 3 subjects were copied from their files. We tested whether academic achievement functions as a selection criterion for friendship, and whether academic achievement is influenced by in-class friends, using social network analytic techniques. Socialization effects for Dutch and English language grades, but not for mathematics grades, were found. We found no support for selection effects of grades.
Descriptors: Peer Influence, Academic Achievement, Longitudinal Studies, Socialization, Friendship, Grades (Scholastic), Grade 8, Selection Criteria, Social Networks, Network Analysis, Foreign Countries, Indo European Languages, English (Second Language), Mathematics, Secondary School Students, Questionnaires
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 8; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Elementary Education; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Netherlands
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A