Stability of Peer Acceptance and Rejection and Their Effect on Academic Performance in Primary Education: A Longitudinal Research

Francisco J García Bacete,Ghislaine Marande Perrin,Jesús F Rosel Remírez,Victoria Muñoz Tinoco

doi:10.3390/su13052650

Francisco J García Bacete, Ghislaine Marande Perrin + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052650

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Mar 2, 2021
Citations: 6	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Jaume I University, Universidad de Sevilla

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to analyze the evolution of peer relationships and academic performance and the effect of the former on the latter in primary education, differentiating between positive and negative relationships. To this end, the likes and dislikes received by each student from his/her classmates were measured at four time points between first and sixth grades, as well as the marks given by their teachers in the subjects of mathematics and Spanish language. One-hundred-sixty-nine students (52.7% girls) from 10 classes of five public schools participated in this study. To verify the objectives, we used a complex structural equation model, obtained from a combination of two autoregressive models (AR, one for social preferences and another one for academic performance), two multi-trait multi-method models (MTMM, one for acceptances and rejections and another one for academic performance in mathematics and Spanish language), and an effects model of social preferences on academic performance. This study confirms: (a) The stability of both peer relationships and academic performance throughout childhood; (b) the stable influence of social relationships on academic performance; and (c) the importance of considering acceptance and rejection differentially. This work reveals the failure of the school to address initial disadvantages, and it provides guidelines for early and inclusive interventions.

Highlights

The means, standard deviations and Pearson’s correlation coefficients (r) between the observable variables for the 169 participants who completed all the data are shown in Table 1, where we included dotted lines to indicate the separation between variables in different measurement time points, i.e., from T1 to T4
This study is an important contribution to the need proposed recently by Wentzel et al [40], i.e., the need to formulate precise theoretical models to explain the connection between social acceptance and academic performance
The model of relations proposed in this investigation about these two constructs proved to be solid and very stable throughout the entire period of primary school

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Establishing positive peer relationships and developing academic skills are two of the fundamental objectives of primary education in the first school years, setting the foundation for adequate growth and later adjustment [1] On the contrary, poor peer relationships and low academic performance are two of the most important factors that lead to school drop-out, as well as precursors of difficulties to find a job and, to survive [2,3]. We selected acceptance and rejection among peers as indicators of social experience, social status, and academic performance as an indicator of school adjustment.

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