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Related Experiment Video

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Using Cholesky Decomposition to Explore Individual Differences in Longitudinal Relations between Reading Skills

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Published on: September 17, 2019

First selection, then influence: Developmental differences in friendship dynamics regarding academic achievement.

Mariola Claudia Gremmen¹, Jan Kornelis Dijkstra¹, Christian Steglich¹

¹Department of Sociology, University of Groningen.

Developmental Psychology

|April 11, 2017

Summary

Adolescents initially select friends with similar academic grades. Over time, especially in the second year of secondary school, peer influence causes their grades to become more alike.

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Area of Science:

Social Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Educational Psychology

Background:

Peer relationships significantly impact adolescent academic trajectories.
Understanding selection and influence dynamics is crucial for academic development.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate peer selection and influence on academic achievement in early adolescents.
To examine developmental differences in these processes across school years.
To differentiate effects on average versus cluster-specific grades.

Main Methods:

Longitudinal social network analysis (RSiena) was employed.
Data collected from 6 waves of the SNARE study (N = 601).
Analysis focused on average and cluster-specific grades (language, exact, social).

Main Results:

Selection processes dominated in the first year, with friends chosen based on similar cluster-specific grades.
Influence processes emerged in the second year, affecting both average and cluster-specific grades.
Low-achieving students actively sought similar peers, while high-achievers tended to avoid them.

Conclusions:

Academic peer dynamics evolve developmentally, differing between the first and second year of secondary school.
Initial friend selection is based on academic similarity, shifting to mutual influence over time.
Specific school subjects and developmental stages are critical factors in adolescent academic peer influence.