Stable same-sex friendships with higher achieving partners promote mathematical reasoning in lower achieving primary school children

Adolescents with Few Friend Alternatives are Particularly Susceptible to Influence from Friends

Friend influence in adolescence is well-documented, but the characteristics that contribute to individual differences in susceptibility to influence are not well understood. The present study tests the novel hypothesis that within a friend dyad, having fewer friends than one's partner (i.e., relative lack of alternatives) increases susceptibility to influence as it reduces dissimilarity and thereby promotes compatibility. Drawn from diverse California (USA) public middle schools, participants were 678 adolescents (58% girls) in reciprocated friendships that were stable from the fall to the spring of sixth grade (M = 11.53 years old). Longitudinal Actor-Partner Interdependence Models assessed peer influence, operationalized as individual change in the direction of increased friend similarity. Consistent with the hypothesis, partners with fewer friends were influenced by partners with relatively more friends in self-reported social anxiety and somatic complaints, as well as teacher-reported academic engagement and prosocial behavior. Academic engagement was the only domain wherein partners with more friends were also influenced by partners with relatively fewer friends. For those with few friends, conformity (i.e., becoming more similar to a partner) can be an important strategy to promote compatibility for strengthening existing friendships.

How Classroom Environment Influences Academic Enjoyment in Mathematics Among Chinese Middle School Students: Moderated Mediation Effect of Academic Self-Concept and Academic Achievement

Purpose

Substantial literature has documented the influence of classroom environment on academic enjoyment. However, little is known about the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this relationship. Based on the control-value theory and the individual-context interaction model, a moderated mediation model was constructed in this study to further examine whether academic self-concept mediated the relation between classroom environment and enjoyment in mathematics and whether this mediating effect was moderated by academic achievement.

Methods

We recruited 750 Chinese middle school students and they completed the classroom environment, academic self-concept, and academic enjoyment questionnaires.

Results

After controlling for gender and grade, the results of structural equation modeling showed that academic self-concept partially mediated the association between classroom environment and enjoyment in mathematics. The mediating path from classroom environment to academic self-concept was moderated by academic achievement. Classroom environment positively predicted academic self-concept for the higher achieving students. However, the effect of classroom environment on academic self-concept was not significant for the lower achieving students.

Conclusion

These findings highlight that classroom environment has a more salient impact on academic self-concept and enjoyment for higher achieving students than for lower achieving students. The study results provide guidelines for educators regarding effective interventions for fostering positive academic emotions.

The association between non-symbolic number comparison and mathematical abilities depends on fluency

Numerous studies have explored the correlation between non-symbolic number comparison and mathematical abilities in children, but the results have been inconsistent. The underlying mental processing featuring fluency may affect the correlation. The current study tested the fluency hypothesis that non-symbolic number comparison is associated with mathematical fluency in the development of mathematical ability. Non-symbolic number comparison, arithmetic computation, mathematical reasoning, non-symbolic number estimation, symbolic number comparison, and a series of basic cognitive processing tasks, including mental rotation, non-verbal matrix reasoning, and choice reaction time, were administered to 1072 first- to fourth-grade children. The results show that non-symbolic number comparison (measured via numerosity comparison) was the only independent predictor of arithmetic computation in higher grades, even after controlled for age, gender, basic cognitive processing, non-symbolic number estimation (measured via numerosity estimation), and symbolic number comparison (measured via digit comparison). However, it did not correlate with mathematical reasoning in any grade. These findings support the fluency hypothesis for developmental correlation between non-symbolic number comparison and mathematical abilities. That is, non-symbolic number comparison correlates with mathematical ability featuring fluency.

What Does it Mean to be Susceptible to Influence? A Brief Primer on Peer Conformity and Developmental Changes that Affect it

Peer influence is a twofold process that entails a behavior by an agent of influence that elicits conformity from the target of influence. Susceptibility describes the likelihood that conformity will occur. This review focuses on factors that shape susceptibility to peer influence. We argue that conformity has two distinct sources. In some instances, conformity is a product of characteristics of the target of influence, operationalized as stable individual difference variables. Trait-like attributes associated with susceptibility to peer influence include conformity dispositions, social goals, resource acquisition strategies, vulnerabilities, and maturational status. In other instances, conformity is a product of the context in which the target is situated, operationalized as impermanent individual difference variables. State-like circumstances associated with susceptibility to peer influence include conditions of uncertainty, personal attributes that differ from the partner or group, perceived benefits of impression management, unmet social needs, and social referents and beliefs about their behavior. Empirical illustrations are provided. We close with a discussion of developmental changes hypothesized to impact variations in susceptibility to peer influence.

A Comparison of Dyadic and Social Network Assessments of Peer Influence

The present study compares two methods for assessing peer influence: the longitudinal Actor-Partner-Interdependence-Model (L-APIM) and the longitudinal Social Network Analysis Model (L-SNA). The data were drawn from 1,995 (49% girls; 51 % boys) 3^rd grade students (M_age=9.68 years). From this sample, L-APIM (n = 206 indistinguishable dyads; n = 187 distinguishable dyads) and L-SNA (n = 1,024 total network members) subsamples were created. Students completed peer nominations and objective assessments of mathematical reasoning in the spring of the 3^rd and 4^th grades. Patterns of statistical significance differed across analyses. Stable distinguishable and indistinguishable L-APIM dyadic analyses identified reciprocated friend influence such that friends with similar levels of mathematical reasoning influenced one another and friends with higher math reasoning influenced friends with lower math reasoning. L-SNA models with an influence parameter (i.e., average reciprocated alter) comparable to that assessed in L-APIM analyses failed to detect influence effects. Influence effects did emerge, however, with the addition of another, different social network influence parameter (i.e., average alter influence effect). The diverging results may be attributed to differences in the sensitivity of the analyses, their ability to account for structural confounds with selection and influence, the samples included in the analyses, and the relative strength of influence in reciprocated best as opposed to other friendships.

Emotion-related socialization in the classroom: Considering the roles of teachers, peers, and the classroom context

The goal of this study was to apply aspects of the heuristic model advanced by Eisenberg, Cumberland, and Spinrad (1998) to the study of socialization that takes place in preschool and elementary school classrooms. Investigating socialization in this context is important given the number of hours students spend in school, the emotional nature of social interactions that take place involving teachers and students, and the emotions students often experience in the context of academic work. Guided by Eisenberg, Cumberland, et al.'s (1998) call to consider complex socialization pathways, we focus our discussion on ways teachers, peers, and the classroom context can shape students' emotion-related outcomes (e.g., self-regulation, adjustment) and academic-related outcomes (e.g., school engagement, achievement) indirectly and differentially (e.g., as a function of student or classroom characteristics). Our illustrative review of the intervention literature demonstrates that the proposed classroom-based socialization processes have clear applied implications, and efforts to improve socialization in the classroom can promote students' emotional and academic competence. We conclude our discussion by outlining areas that require additional study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Peer Influence on Academic Performance: A Social Network Analysis of Social-Emotional Intervention Effects

Longitudinal social network analysis (SNA) was used to examine how a social-emotional learning (SEL) intervention may be associated with peer socialization on academic performance. Fifth graders (N = 631; 48 % girls; 9 to 12 years) were recruited from six elementary schools. Intervention classrooms (14) received a relationship building intervention (RBI) and control classrooms (8) received elementary school as usual. At pre- and post-test, students nominated their friends, and teachers completed assessments of students' writing and math performance. The results of longitudinal SNA suggested that the RBI was associated with friend selection and peer influence within the classroom peer network. Friendship choices were significantly more diverse (i.e., less evidence of social segregation as a function of ethnicity and academic ability) in intervention compared to control classrooms, and peer influence on improved writing and math performance was observed in RBI but not control classrooms. The current findings provide initial evidence that SEL interventions may change social processes in a classroom peer network and may break down barriers of social segregation and improve academic performance.