Effects of the structure of classmates’ perceptions of peers’ academic abilities on children’s perceived cognitive competence, peer acceptance, and engagement

Abstract

This study examined the effects of classroom indegree for ability (the degree to which peer nominations as academically capable show high consensus and focus on a relatively few number of children in a classroom) on first grade children's peer acceptance, teacher-rated classroom engagement, and self-perceived cognitive competence. Participants were 291 children located in 84 classrooms. Participating in sociometric interviews were 937 classmates. Consistent with social comparison theory, classroom indegree moderated the associations between children's achievement and classroom engagement and peer liking. Children with lower ability, relative to their classmates, were less accepted by peers and less engaged in classrooms in which students' perceptions of classmates' abilities converged on a relatively few number of students than in classrooms in which peers' perceptions were more dispersed. High indegree was associated with lower self-perceived cognitive competence regardless of ability level.

Healthy, wealthy, and wise: Incorporating health issues as a source of strain in Agnew's general strain theory

“…Health problems may lead some children to become outcasts since other youth may have been taught to avoid children who are ill. They may prevent some juveniles from becoming successful in the classroom or on the athletic fields and each of these has been shown to affect their ability to obtain status (Daniels & Leaper, 2006;Hughes & Zhang, 2007;Messner, 1989). Children without health insurance are likely to remain sick longer when they become ill and would therefore miss out on numerous opportunities to bond and gain status in a group.…”

Social preference, social prominence, and group membership in late elementary school: homophilic concentration and peer affiliation configurations

“…Children's classroom peer relationships have been strongly linked to school motivation, academic achievement, and key educational outcomes including high school completion and postsecondary attainment (Cairns and Cairns 1994;Hughes and Zhang 2007;Kindermann et al 1996;Mahoney et al 2003;Wentzel and Caldwell 1997). On this score, the creation of classroom social contexts that promote productive peer relations and children's corresponding engagement in school is a critical task for teachers, school psychologists, and counselors (Akos et al 2007;Rimm-Kaufman and Chiu 2007;Wentzel and Wigfield 1998).…”

Young children's interpersonal trust consistency as a predictor of future school adjustment

“…The relationship between same-sex peers secret-keeping and school liking and loneliness may have emerged because of the importance of secret-keeping for relationship formation and peer relationships have been found to impact on young children's attitude to school (Hughes & Zhang, 2007;Ladd & Coleman, 1997) and loneliness (Coplan et al, 2007). However, the relationship between interpersonal trust consistency and loneliness needs to be interpreted with caution because of the modest reliability of loneliness scale and the lack of stability of the measure.…”

“…Positive peer relationships have been identified as a crucial antecedent in facilitating young children's school adjustment (Hay et al, 2004;Ladd, 1990;Ladd & Price, 1987). For example, developing positive peer relationships are associated with higher levels of school liking (Ladd & Coleman, 1997;Hughes & Zhang, 2007), higher academic performance (Bossaert, Doumen, Buyse, & Verschueren, 2011), and lower levels of loneliness (Coplan, Closson, & Arbeau, 2007) during the early years of school. Further, both trust beliefs and trustworthiness predict children's school adjustment such that higher trust beliefs and higher levels of trustworthiness are predictive of successful school adjustment (Betts & Rotenberg, 2007a;Betts et al, 2009;Imber, 1973;Rotenberg, McDougall et al, 2004).…”