SERVICIO DE IMPRESIÓN CON DATA VARIABLE, MODULADO Y EMBALAJE DE LOS INFORMES DE RESULTADOS DE LA EVALUACIÓN CENSAL DE ESTUDIANTES

The second research question regarded the degree to which social functioning (peer acceptance, popularity, and victimization), academic functioning, and self-concept (self-

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esteem, social, and academic) were related to students’ perceptions of the classroom peer context. Contrary to our expectations, the regression analyses showed that peer acceptance and victimization were not related to perceptions of the classroom peer context when controlling for the other predictors. It was especially noteworthy that students who were victimized did not experience more conflict and isolation in the classroom than students who were not victimized, although their peer experiences are frequently negative by definition (Veenstra et al., 2005). Although victimization and perceptions of classroom peer relations were related, these associations disappeared when controlling for other forms of social functioning, academic functioning, and self-concept. This suggests that perceptions of the classroom peer context do not necessarily become negative when a student is victimized, but that this may become negative as a consequence of a change in self-concept. Previous research has shown that students who are victimized have lower self-esteem and a more negative social self-concept than students who are not victimized (Guerra, Williams, & Sadek, 2011). Future research should show whether a lower self- concept indeed mediates the association between victimization and perceptions of the classroom peer context. As expected, the association of popularity with perceptions of conflict and isolation was positive after controlling for the other predictors. This finding is in line with previous studies that have shown that the use of aggression at the right times helps students to obtain and maintain popularity (Cillessen & Mayeux, 2004; Neal, 2010). In order to pick the right moment to use aggression, popular students should pay more attention to negative interactions in the classroom (such as fights) than other students. As a result, these students may perceive more conflict and isolation than students who do not need or want to pay attention to negative interactions in the classroom.

Contrary to our expectations, we found a negative instead of a positive association between academic functioning and perceptions of cooperation and cohesion in the classroom. One explanation may be that students who perform well in school were more critical when they completed the questionnaire and paid more attention to the exceptions in the classroom. For example, one items of the cohesion scale was: “In this classroom, everyone plays together on the playground”. It could be that students who perform well in school have applied stricter definitions of “everyone” and “together”. Possibly, they thought that this item was not true when one student was not allowed to participate or when everyone was allowed to participate, but all students played in subgroups. Another explanation could be that students who perform well in school may have felt that they do much of the work in collaborative tasks. Previous research has shown that the higher the level of academic achievement of students, the more they act as teacher in interactions with peers (Saleh et al., 2005). The lack of mutuality in collaboration and helping might

explain why students with higher levels of academic functioning perceive less cooperation than students with lower levels of academic functioning.

In line with our expectations, self-concept (especially self-esteem and social self- concept) was associated with perceptions of cooperation, conflict, cohesion, isolation, and comfort in the classroom, even when controlled for the other predictors. Self-esteem and social self-concept were stronger predictors of the perceptions of the classroom peer context than social and academic functioning. The glasses through which students look at the world (Baumeister et al., 2003) are relevant for their classroom peer experiences, even when controlled for individual experiences with peers. Although students with a more negative self-concept had a more negative perception of the classroom peer context, this does not necessarily mean that their perceptions are more or less accurate. Yet, there are some indications that students with a less positive view of the world, what may be expressed in lower self-esteem, may underestimate the quality of the classroom peer relationships. For example, previous research has shown that students with depressive symptoms underestimate their acceptance by peers (Kistner, David-Ferdon, Repper, & Joiner, 2006).

Finally, we examined the role of gender. Boys experienced more conflict and less cohesion than girls. Boys are more frequently victims of conflict than girls (Rose & Rudolph, 2006). This may explain why they perceived more conflict. Furthermore, boys are often more competitive and less prosocial than girls. Therefore, they might perceive the group as less cohesive. Gender also moderated some associations. Noteworthy was that an association between victimization and comfort was found only for girls. A possible explanation is that victimized girls have more internalizing problems than victimized boys and therefore feel less comfortable at school (Hoglund, 2007).

Limitations and Directions for Future Research

In this study, several relevant predictors were found for students’ perceptions of the classroom peer context. However, for three of the five dimensions (conflict, cohesion, and isolation), these effects were rather small. Thus, there may be other factors that explain how students perceive their classroom. One of such factors is attribution style (Crick & Dodge, 1994). Some students interpret the intentions and behavior of others in a positive way whereas others interpret the same intentions and behaviors in a negative or hostile way. Students with a hostile attribution bias are probably inclined to perceive more conflict and less cooperation in the classroom.

Another limitation of this study was its correlational design. Therefore, no conclusions can be drawn about causality. Longitudinal studies with a cross-lagged

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panel design should show how, for example, the association between self-concept and perceptions of the classroom peer context is formed. Such studies can also show how perceptions of the classroom peer context influence student behavior.

As described previously, the present study dealt with student perceptions of the classroom peer context. The associations that were found are therefore not informative about the perceptions of teachers or independent observers. Nevertheless, it may be relevant for research and teachers to know which students show high rates of agreement with them. When they know this, they may ask these students to give their opinion about the classroom in order to quickly get a picture of the peer context. Research with multiple methods and informants can provide insight in the level of agreement between different methods and informants (e.g., Verschueren, Cadima, & Doumen, 2014).