By Dr Imelda Santos Caleon
Assistant Dean on Partnerships , Office of Education Research, NIE,  NTU
Published: 2 Sep 2024

 

Overview

Having meaningful and caring relationships is one of the fundamental needs of all individuals (Baumeister & Leary, 1995).  Social relationships are influential in the development of behaviours, attitudes (Veenstra & Dijkstra, 2011), and well-being of individuals (Dishion et al., 2008).  A study that was conducted by Harvard University for more than 80 years indicates that having positive relationships is the strongest determinant of happiness and good health (Waldinger & Schulz, 2023). Three forms of human relationships play pivotal roles in an individual’s development: relationship with parents, teachers, and peers. 

Parent–child relationship, which is established early in life, is critical to a child’s physical, social and psychological development. According to attachment theory, early relationships generate personal working models of relationships that have enduring effects on the formation of connections and interaction with others (Bowlby, 1973).  Results drawn from a large-scale study involving more than 10,000 children and covering multiple developmental periods suggest that the quality of relationship between children and their parents early in life serve as a significant and consistent predictor of mental health and prosociality from early childhood to late adolescence, even after accounting for several contextual factors (Katsantonis & McLellan, 2024). Research has also shown that parent–child relationships are strongly associated with academic outcomes, such as learning engagement (Shao & Kang, 2022). However, conflict between parents and children was found to have damaging effects on children’s mental health and prosocial behaviour (Katsantonis & McLellan, 2024). 

As children grow and spend more time in schools, teachers and peers become influential figures in the children’s lives. Teachers and peers not only influence young people’s learning, but they also create the context for the development of attitudes and socio-emotional outcomes (Saxer et al., 2024). Relationship between teachers and students and between students was found to have significant positive influence on students’ academic performance, engagement, and motivation, and well-being (Dishion, et al., 2008; see review of Saxer et al., 2024; Veenstra & Dijkstra, 2011).  

Peer relationships, particularly friendships, emerge from the close interaction between individuals who share interests and similarities in terms of personality and experiences.  Having strong and satisfactory peer relationships facilitates the development of several school-related and well-being outcomes. For example, a study that involved middle school students in China demonstrated that the quality of peer relationship is positively associated with students’ learning engagement (Shao & Kang, 2022) and achievement (Shao et all, 2024). This study also showed that this association can be mediated by self-efficacy, which pertains to an individual’s belief in being capable of carrying out the needed strategies and actions to achieve personal goals (Bandura, 1997). Similarly, peer relationship was found to be positively associated with academic resilience, which refers to one’s ability to cope effectively with school stressors (Shao & Kang, 2022).  

Peer Relationships in the Singapore Context

The findings of a large-scale longitudinal study, which involved more than 3000 secondary students from 10 schools in Singapore, illustrate the importance of peers in the development of students, social, emotional outcomes but there could be barriers for positive peer influence to occur within friendship circles (Caleon et al., 2024). The results of this study suggest that students who have more friends tend to have higher levels of self-efficacy and sense of belonging. The students’ and their friends’ academic performance, motivational and well-being outcomes were found to have a significant positive association. The strongest influence of friends was detected in relation to students’ motivation to study and their belief in their capability to achieve academic goals and form stable friendships. It was also found that the more students form friendships with students from other achievement groups, the more they become motivated to study. The students were also found to select friends who are like themselves and exude pro-social traits, such as trustworthiness and kindness. Students were also found to rely on their peer networks for various academic, social and emotional resources. However, students may not benefit from their peer networks for various reasons, such as having low self-esteem, high tendency to rely on themselves, having alternative networks outside of school that are perceived as more reliable, having friends whose goals are not aligned with their own goals, and when the networks exert negative influence. Low level of pro-social skills and presence of conflict may also limit the benefits that students may draw from their friendship networks. 

In Practice

Teachers can support multiple aspects of students’ development through the formation of close bonds and reducing conflict with their students. Teachers can also serve as role models on how students interpret social cues and behave in social settings (Saxter et al., 2024).  Teachers can facilitate the formation of friendships among students through group work and changing seating arrangements (Nehyba et al., 2021). 

Examining the structure of the students’ peer networks and social network attributes of students (e.g., reciprocated friendship, cross-group connectedness, and popularity) is useful in identifying peer supporters and peer support leaders. Schools can also take into consideration the structure of students’ peer networks in identifying students that may need additional support, such as those who are socially isolated and facing difficulties forming strong and enduring bonds with their peers. Aside from the socially isolated students, support may also be needed by popular peers to be able to manage social pressure and expectations. Schools are also encouraged to implement programmes to provide support in the development of students’ social skills and emotional management strategies. 

Key Takeaways

All individuals are situated within multiple overlapping circles of relationships that shape their attitudes, behaviours and functioning. As these forms of relationships are important to build and nurture, learning and mastering social and emotional competencies and having the adaptability and flexibility to apply these competencies across different domains and settings are paramount for human flourishing. 

References

Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497–529. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497

 

Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss: Vol. 2. Separation, anxiety, and anger. Basic Books.

 

Caleon, I. S., Liu, W. C., Chan. M., Chua, J., Ong, C. L., Elicano, J., Tan, R. H. Y., Arwani, A., Zhou. J. and Chen, S. (2024). Peer power: How do peer relationships and peer network attributes influence adolescents’ academic, motivational and well-being outcomes? Unpublished Technical Research Report, Singapore.

 

Dishion, T. J., Piehler, T. F., & Myers, M. W. (2008). Dynamics and ecology of adolescent peer influence. In M. J. Prinstein & K. A. Dodge (Eds.), Duke series in child development and public policy. Understanding peer influence in children and adolescents (pp. 72-93). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

 

Juvonen, J., Espinoza, G., & Knifsend, C. (2012). The role of peer relationships in student academic and extracurricular engagement. In S. L. Christenson, A. L. Reschly, & C. Wylie (Eds.), Handbook of research on student engagement (pp. 387–401). Springer Science + Business Media. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2018-7_18

 

Katsantonis, I., & McLellan, R. (2024). The role of parent–child interactions in the association between mental health and prosocial behavior: Evidence from early childhood to late adolescence. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 48(1), 59–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/01650254231202444

 

Nehyba, J., Juhaňák, L., & Cigán, J. (2021). Effects of seating arrangement on students’ interaction in group reflective practice. The Journal of Experimental Education, 91(2), 249–277. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2021.1954865

 

 

Saxer, K., Schnell, Jakob, Mori, J., Hascher, T. (2024).  The role of teacher–student relationships and student–student relationships for secondary school students’ well-being in Switzerland.

International Journal of Educational Research Open, 100318, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2023.100318

 

Shengyao, Y., Salarzadeh Jenatabadi, H., Mengshi, Y., Ninqin, C., Xuefan, L., & Mustafa, Z. (2024) Academic resilience, self-efficacy, and motivation: the role of parenting style. Scientific Reports, 14, 5571.

 

Shao, Y., & Kang, S. (2022). The association between peer relationship and learning engagement among adolescents: The chain mediating roles of self-efficacy and academic resilience. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 938756. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.938756

 

Shao, Y., Kang, S., Lu, Q., Zhang, C., & Li, R. (2024). How peer relationships affect academic achievement among junior high school students: The chain mediating roles of learning motivation and learning engagement. BMC Psychology, 12, 278. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01780-z

Veenstra, R., & Dijkstra, J. K. (2011). Transformations in adolescent peer networks. In B. Laursen, & W. A. Collins (Eds.), Relationship Pathways: From Adolescence to Young Adulthood (pp. 135-154). SAGE Publications Inc..

 

Waldinger, R. & Schulz, M. (2023). The good life: Lessons from the world's longest scientific study of happiness. Simon & Schuster