The Role of School‐Related Peers and Social Networks in Human Development
Title
The Role of School‐Related Peers and Social Networks in Human Development
Author
Muller, Chandra
Research Area
Development
Topic
Evolutionary Bases of Development
Abstract
This essay describes the foundational research on peers within schools, the recent advances in the field, and new challenges and opportunities for future research. Schools bring together children and youths for many hours of the day over many years. The intensity of interaction and judgment within of peers within the school setting heightens the potential impact on human development during the crucial adolescent years. Extant research on the effects of peers in school cuts across disciplinary lines and is of interest to developmental psychologists, economists, sociologists, and anthropologists, who observe the potential for peers to structure and reinforce status hierarchies and opportunities to learn, contribute to the development of personality, identity, interests, and motivation, and shape the cultures that emerge in schools, all of which may impact students' learning, educational attainment, and adult earnings. Social network methods combined with more readily available data on students' course taking in schools provides rich and promising new opportunities for future research.