About this srcd poster session

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Panel information
Panel 22. Social Relationships

Abstract

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Youth in the U.S. and across the globe are growing up in increasingly diverse societies (Titzmann & Jugert, 2019). Developing social relationships across race and ethnicity is beneficial for adolescent intergroup relations and academic and psychological adjustment, yet these relationships are less prevalent than same-group connections (Graham et al., 2014; Graham & Echols, 2018). Adolescence represents a key window of opportunity to develop cross-group social skill competencies and experiences, and the present study proposes to investigate Cooperative Learning(CL) intervention program as the developmental mechanism to promote cross-group friendships. CL is a school-based universal transformational pedagogical intervention that brings students together under conditions of positive interdependence and is rooted in Allport’s contact theory (Roseth et al., 2008). Evidence shows that CL is effective in promoting peer relationships and academic and psychological adjustment (Roseth et al., 2008; Van Ryzin et al., 2021), but we currently do not know whether CL can lead to changes in friendship network selection dynamics to promote cross-group friendships and peer acceptance. Documenting the CL’s effects on changes in actual friendship networks is critical, given that the contact theory indicates that to reduce prejudice and discrimination, there must be a relational component – not simply cross-group contact, but an increase in cross-group friendships.
The present study uses three waves of data from a cluster randomized trial of the CL program (7 intervention and 8 control middle schools; N = 1,890 students, 47.1% female, 75.2% White). CL intervention was delivered by teachers who participated in the CL training program, and treatment fidelity was assessed. Participants completed self-reported measures of peer acceptance and socio-demographic information and provided up to six nominations of friends from their grade to construct friendship networks. Stochastic actor-oriented modeling (RSiena; Snijders et al., 2010) and subsequent meta-analysis to compare parameter estimates revealed a significant difference in terms of the strength of youth preference to select friendships with others of the same race. Specifically, in control schools, we found a significant and positive preference for homophily on race in friend selection, whereas in intervention schools, this parameter was smaller in magnitude and non-significant. This means that friendship networks in intervention schools were significantly more integrated along race over time. Next, we found that there was a significant difference between intervention and control schools in the strength of youth preference to select friendships with others who had similar levels of peer acceptance. Specifically, in control schools, a significant and positive preference for homophily on peer acceptance in friend selection emerged, whereas, in intervention schools, this parameter was smaller in magnitude and non-significant. This means that friendship networks in intervention classrooms were significantly more integrated along peer acceptance lines over time.
These findings document the effectiveness of CL in promoting friendship network integration across race and peer acceptance. The discussion will emphasize how these results contribute to research by moving beyond the previously documented effects of the CL program on social competence and intergroup attitudes at the level of the individual towards relational changes in the networks of middle school students.

Author information

Author	Role
Olga Kornienko, Ph.D., George Mason University	Presenting author
Sabina Low, Arizona State University	Non-presenting author
Mark J. Van Ryzin, University of Oregon	Non-presenting author

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