Journal Article

Do Friendships Afford Academic Benefits? A Meta-analytic Study

Wentzel, Kathryn R., Jablansky, Sophie, Scalise, Nicole R.

2018

Overview

Using meta-analytic techniques, we examined systematically the evidence linking friendship to academically related outcomes, asking: To what extent is friendship related to academic performance and to academically related cognitive skills? Based on 22 studies that yielded 81 effect sizes and 28 independent samples, we examined relations between friendship and academically related cognitive skills (e.g., scientific reasoning, linguistic skills, spatial memory) and performance (e.g., academic grades, test scores). The role of friendship was defined in one of two ways: working with mutual friends on academic tasks and the experience of having friendships (as indicated by having at least one reciprocated friend or a number of friends). Small to moderate effect sizes suggest that working together with a friend and simply having a friend were related significantly and positively both to cognitive and performance outcomes. Student (sex, age, country of origin) and methodological (measurement, design) characteristics were not significant moderators of relations between friendship and academically related outcomes.

• Publisher: Springer,Springer US,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Abstract Reasoning / Academic Achievement / Achievement Tests / Age Differences / Child and School Psychology / Cognition & reasoning / Cognitive Ability / Cooperative Learning / Correlation / Education / Educational Psychology / Effect Size / Foreign Countries / Friendship / Gender Differences / Grades (Scholastic) / Language Skills / Learning and Instruction / Memory / META-ANALYSIS / Research Design / Role / Scores / Social aspects / Spatial Ability / Thinking Skills