The Link between Social and Structural Integration: Co- and Interethnic Friendship Selection and Social Influence within Adolescent Social Networks

Lorenz, Georg; Salikutluk, Zerrin; Boda, Zsófia; Jansen, Malte; Hewstone, Miles

doi:10.15195/v8.a19

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Students select their friends based on their own characteristics (ego), the characteristics of their peers (alters), and dyadic characteristics such as similarity in these attributes. Previous studies have shown such processes for sociodemographic characteristics such as gender and ethnicity, but also academic achievement (Gremmen et al, 2017; Lorenz et al, 2020, 2021). We replicated those effects.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Longitudinal social network models such as SAOMs allow us to disentangle social influence and social selection processes (such as homophily). Using such models, homophily regarding gender and ethnicity have been demonstrated to be key criteria for the selection of friends (Lorenz et al, 2021; Raabe et al, 2019), and there is evidence suggesting that academic achievement is a predictor of friendship choices, too, (Gremmen et al, 2017; Laninga-Wijnen et al, 2019). There is much less theoretical and empirical work on the question whereas students’ ASCs could also be linked to friendship selection processes.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ISEI is a continuous measure aiming to classify occupations according to their income, prestige, and the required educational status, ranging from 16 (e.g., unskilled agricultural worker) to 90 (e.g., judge). It is thus a broad measure of SES that taps into parental education, vocational success, and income and has been frequently used in previous studies on social networks based on the same data (e.g., Lorenz et al, 2021). The ISEI was measured for both parents, but the higher ISEI was used in the analyses as an indicator for socioeconomic resources in the family.…”

Section: Further Covariatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social comparison effects on academic self-concepts—Which peers matter most?

Jansen¹,

Boda²,

Lorenz³

2022

Developmental Psychology

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Social comparisons with peers are important sources of self-development during adolescence. Many previous studies showed that students' academic self-concepts (ASC) form by contrasting one's own achievement with the average of one's class or school (the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect [BFLPE]). Based on social comparison theory, however, we would expect some peers to be more likely social comparison targets than other peers, for example, because they are more visible or students perceive them as similar to themselves. In this study, we used sociometric data to analyze which peers play the most important role for social comparison effects on ASC. We examined how the average achievement of friends, study partners, peers perceived as popular by the student, as well as same-gender and same-ethnic peers affect the general ASC and how these effects compare to the effect of the classroom's average achievement. The study was based on a German longitudinal sample of 2,438 students (44% no recent immigrant background, 19% Turkish immigrant background, 10% Eastern European immigrant background, 27% other immigrant background) from 117 school classes that were followed from grade 9 to 10. Results from longitudinal social network analysis do not confirm substantial incremental effects of specific types of peers, while class average achievement showed a stable negative effect (confirming the BFLPE). In addition, we could provide evidence for social selection effects based on ASC. We conclude that classrooms provide a specific setting that imposes social comparisons with the "generalized peer" rather than with specific subgroups of peers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Further Covariatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social comparison effects on academic self-concepts—Which peers matter most?

Jansen¹,

Boda²,

Lorenz³

2022

Developmental Psychology

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“…However, the resources embedded in co-ethnic friendships often differ from those embedded in inter-ethnic friendships 17 . In particular, immigrant students benefit from social contact with majority group members 18 . Such contacts provide access to resources such as exposure to the host country’s language.…”

Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnic diversity fosters the social integration of refugee students

Boda¹,

Lorenz²,

Jansen³

et al. 2023

Nat Hum Behav

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Forced migration has become a global megatrend, and many refugees are school aged. As social integration is key to their wellbeing and success, it is pivotal to determine factors that promote the social integration of refugee youth within schools. Here, using a large, nationally representative social network dataset from Germany, we examine the relationships of refugee adolescents with their peers (304 classrooms, 6,390 adolescents and 487 refugees). We find that refugee adolescents have fewer friends and are more often rejected as desk mates than their classmates. Crucially, however, they are less rejected in more diverse classrooms. This results from two basic processes: (1) more opportunities to meet other ethnic minority peers, who are more accepting of refugees in general and (2) higher acceptance of refugee adolescents by ethnic majority peers in more diverse settings. Our results can help promote the social adjustment of young refugees in school and mitigate the negative consequences of prejudice.

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“…Social contacts with the majority group in particular offer students with a refugee background important resources for acquiring the language of the host country, thus increasing their chances in the education system and the labor market and acculturating overall ( Edele et al, 2020 ; Lorenz et al, 2021 ). Supporting social integration is therefore not only of individual importance for the development of the students concerned but is also of long-term interest concerning current political discourses on migration and inclusion policy ( Lorenz et al, 2021 ; Boda et al, 2023 ; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2023 ). While trauma-sensitive school concepts are increasingly being established in the United States of America ( Simon et al, 2020 ), limited efforts have been made to implement such concepts into European school systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trauma-sensitive school concepts for students with a refugee background: a review of international studies

Lembke,

Linderkamp,

Casale

2024

Front. Psychol.

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Children and adolescents with a refugee background are at high risk for traumatization. Once they arrive in safe countries, schools are the institutions where teachers are responsible for caring for them sensitively and competently. Furthermore, schools are organized in learning groups consisting of multiple peers of the same age, which provides excellent opportunities for social learning and experiences of social support. In this respect, schools are the appropriate places where preventive concepts can be applied to students with a refugee background. This systematic review summarizes studies that examine or evaluate existing international concepts of trauma-sensitive schools for supporting traumatized students with a refugee background. Based on N = 41 selected articles, 17 relevant concepts of trauma-sensitive schools were identified. In 35.3% of the concepts, traumatized students with a refugee background are explicitly included in the target group of the concept, while 47.1% of the concepts refer to groups of students with trauma as a result of various adverse childhood experiences, which also occur more frequently within the population of refugee children and adolescents 17.6% of the concepts contain specific adaptations for pupils with a refugee background. The majority of these concepts were developed in the United States. Additional concepts can be reported for Australia, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Cambodia. Based on available empirical data, no significant effectiveness regarding the researched concepts’ effects on academic and other school-related data can be determined. Although some studies indicate positive effects concerning school-related target variables, most of the studies have only limited significance due to inadequate research designs and methodological deficiencies. Therefore, there is a great need for further development, careful implementation, and evaluation of trauma-sensitive concepts in schools, especially for the growing group of refugee students.

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The Link between Social and Structural Integration: Co- and Interethnic Friendship Selection and Social Influence within Adolescent Social Networks

Cited by 8 publications

References 51 publications

Social comparison effects on academic self-concepts—Which peers matter most?

Social comparison effects on academic self-concepts—Which peers matter most?

Ethnic diversity fosters the social integration of refugee students

Trauma-sensitive school concepts for students with a refugee background: a review of international studies

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