Academic achievement is more closely associated with student-peer relationships than with student-parent relationships or student-teacher relationships

• DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1012701
• Publication Date: 2023-02-16T11:21:04Z
• Authors: Xiaodan Yu; Xufei Wang; Haoyue Zheng; Xin Zhen; Min Shao; Haitao Wang; Xinlin Zhou
• Keywords: academic achievement; 4. Education; student-peer relationships; 05 social sciences; personal relationships; Psychology; student-teacher relationships; 0503 education; student-parent relationships; BF1-990

IntroductionPersonal relationships have long been a concern in education. Most studies indicate that good personal relationships are generally positively correlated with academic performance. However, few studies have compared how different types of personal relationships correlate with academic performance, and the conclusions of existing studies are inconsistent. Based on a large sample, the current study compared how the three closest types of personal relationships among students (with parents, teachers, and their peers) compared with their academic performance.MethodsCluster sampling was used to issue questionnaires to students in Qingdao City, Shandong Province, China in 2018 (Study 1) and in 2019 (Study 2). The actual sample size included 28168 students in Study 1 and 29869 students in Study 2 (both studies, Grades 4 and 8), thus totaling 58037 students. All students completed a personal relationship questionnaire and several academic tests.ResultsThe results showed that: (1) the quality of personal relationships significantly and positively correlated with academic performance; (2) Among the three types of relationships tested, the quality of student-peer relationships was the most closely associated with academic achievement.DiscussionThis study gives insights into future research directions in this field and also reminds educators to pay attention to the personal relationships among their students, especially peer relationships.