Open AccessSocial contagion of academic behavior: Comparing social networks of close friends and admired peers
Author(s) -
Huiyoung Shin
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0265385
Subject(s) - nominate , friendship , psychology , social psychology , peer group , peer influence , social influence , social network (sociolinguistics) , emotional contagion , social network analysis , developmental psychology , social media , social capital , sociology , political science , computer science , social science , law , machine learning
Peer relations become significant socializing agents for diverse behaviors during adolescence. This study investigated relationship selection and social influence of early adolescents’ close friends and admired peers with regard to academic behavioral engagement. A stochastic actor-based model of social network analysis was used to examine classroom social networks across 2 waves ( M age = 11.46; N = 542) based on peer nominations. Adolescents were asked to nominate their “close friends they hang around with and talk to the most” and peers that they “admire, respect, and want to be like” Results indicated that adolescents who were similar in academic engagement more often became friends. Also, close friends’ and admired peers’ academic engagement contributed to adolescents’ own academic engagement over time. The results suggest that both close friends and admired peers are important channels for social contagion of academic behavior and that examining social relations beyond friends are important for advancing our understanding of peer social influence during adolescence.