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Proximity can induce diverse friendships: A large randomized classroom experiment
Julia M Rohrer1,2, Tamás Keller3,4,5, Felix Elwert6
1Department of Psychology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Plos One
|August 11, 2021
Summary
A classroom seating intervention increased friendship probability by 7% for students. While proximity fostered latent friendships equally, manifest friendships grew more among similar students, especially by gender.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Educational Psychology
- Sociology
Background:
- Interventions can influence social dynamics in educational settings.
- Understanding factors that foster diverse friendships is crucial for inclusive environments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if randomized seating arrangements can promote socio-culturally diverse friendships among students.
- To assess the impact of induced proximity on friendship formation across different student demographics.
Main Methods:
- A large-scale field experiment involving 182 classrooms (N=2,966 students) from 3rd to 8th grade.
- Randomized seating charts were implemented for one semester to induce proximity.
- Friendship probabilities were measured before and after the intervention, analyzing similarity in achievement, gender, and ethnicity.
Main Results:
- Being seated next to each other increased the average probability of a mutual friendship from 15% to 22%.
- Induced proximity equally enhanced the latent propensity for friendship across all students, irrespective of background similarities.
- The probability of manifest friendships increased more significantly among similar students, primarily driven by gender dynamics.
Conclusions:
- Scalable, light-touch interventions like randomized seating can positively impact face-to-face networks and foster diverse friendships in existing groups.
- Despite the intervention's success in increasing overall friendship, overcoming social boundaries, particularly those related to gender, remains challenging.
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