Psychological Development and Education ›› 2023, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (5): 683-690.doi: 10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2023.05.09

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Do Birds of a Feather Flock Together? The Influence of Academic Motivation Comparison on Adolescents' Peer Selection

SHA Jingying1, ZHANG Xiangkui2, LIU Qiandong3   

  1. 1. School of Criminology, People's Public Security University of China, Beijing 100038;
    2. School of Psychology, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024;
    3. Mental Health Center, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Dalian 116025
  • Published:2023-09-11
  • Supported by:
    The project was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2019YFC1905301);National Natural Science Foundation of China (22078115,21776108,21690083,22008078).

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Abstract: This study explored the influence of academic motivation comparison and peer similarity on active peer selection (study 1) and passive peer de-selection (study 2). A total of 217 and 245 adolescents participated in the two studies, respectively. The results showed that: (1) When being asked to select peers they wished to meet and interact with, adolescents preferred peers who had higher academic motivation. Besides, they were more likely to de-select those who had lower academic motivation; (2) Adolescents preferred to select those peers who had a similar level of academic motivation to themselves. Furthermore, they tended to de-select individuals with the dissimilar academic motivation to themselves; (3) There was an interaction between the direction and the similarity of academic motivation comparison on peer selection and de-selection. If the level of academic motivation similarity was high, adolescents tended to select those who had higher academic motivation and de-select those who had lower academic motivation. If the level of academic motivation similarity was low, adolescents still tended to select those who had higher academic motivation while de-select those who had higher academic motivation; (4) Academic motivation comparison could influence peer de-selection through state self-esteem. These findings enhance our understanding of the formation of adolescents' peer relationships and can be useful in the guidance of peer interaction and the promotion of self-esteem.

Key words: adolescent, academic motivation comparison, peer selection, peer de-selection, state self-esteem

CLC Number: 

  • G442
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