The role of teacher emotional support in children's cross-ethnic friendship preferences
Introduction
It is estimated that by 2035 one-half of the children in the United States will represent ethnic minority groups (Hernandez, 2004). Living and working harmoniously together in this increasingly heterogeneous society requires capacities to navigate group differences and communicate effectively with each other. Unfortunately, despite increasing diversity, prejudice against outgroups is pervasive, and cross-ethnic friendships among children remain an anomaly rather than the norm (Cooper & Slavin, 2004; Moody, 2001). Although recent evidence suggests that greater classroom diversity may promote cross-ethnic friendships (Bagci, Kumashiro, Smith, Blumberg, & Rutland, 2014; Graham, Munniksma, & Juvonen, 2014), even in diverse classrooms and schools the rates of cross-ethnic friendships remain lower relative to same-ethnic ones (McDonald, Dashiell-Aje, Menzer, Rubin, Oh, & Bowker, 2013; Munniksma & Juvonen, 2012). Thus, it appears that simply placing children of diverse backgrounds in one school or class does not ensure cross-ethnic friendships. Considering that cross-ethnic friendships have been linked to positive intergroup attitudes (Feddes, Noack, & Rutland, 2009; Knifsend & Juvonen, 2013; Turner, Hewstone, & Voci, 2007), lower levels of peer victimization, and greater levels of perceived peer support and school safety among children (Graham et al., 2014; Kawabata & Crick, 2011; Munniksma & Juvonen, 2012), understanding ways to promote these school-based relationships is an important goal for research. In this study, we consider the role of elementary school teachers by examining the links between teacher emotional support and children's preferences for cross-ethnic friendships.
Few contemporary studies have explored the extent to which natural variation in teaching practices accounts for variation in children's cross-ethnic relations. There is also a paucity of applied developmental research examining cross-ethnic relations during middle childhood—a key yet overlooked developmental stage characterized by interrelated changes in cognition, behavior, and friendship (Del Giudice, 2014). To address these gaps, we use multi-cohort, one-year longitudinal data to examine the role of teacher emotional support in children's preferences for cross- over same-ethnic friendships among 1st, 3rd, and 5th graders. Because data were collected three times per academic year, we explore potential within-individual and within-classroom shifts in friendship preferences and test the extent to which teacher emotional support predicts shifts in and mean levels of these preferences. Grade, gender, and ethnic moderation of the associations between teacher emotional support and children's cross-ethnic friendship preferences are also examined.
Section snippets
Children's same-ethnic and cross-ethnic friendship preferences
Researchers who study children's friendships typically employ the sociometric technique, whereby individuals are asked to nominate associates based on a specified characteristic (Gronlund, 1959). Sociometric studies have found that children of different ethnic groups tend to send more “friendship” (Graham et al., 2014; Hamm, Brown, & Heck, 2005; Moody, 2001; Quillian & Campbell, 2003; Shrum, Cheek, & Hunter, 1988), more “like to hang around with”, and fewer “do not like to hang around with”
Teacher emotional support and children's cross-ethnic friendship preferences
Given the significance of cross-ethnic friendships and their relative infrequency, an important question is: “What conditions in the classroom setting can facilitate children's greater willingness to cross ethnic lines in forming friendships?” Drawing on attachment theory (Bowlby, 1982), we argue that teacher emotional support may be one such condition. Because elementary school teachers spend a significant amount of time with their students throughout the day, teachers serve as parental
Teacher emotional support and student age
The link between teacher emotional support and children's cross-ethnic friendship preferences may vary across elementary school years due to a number of developmental changes during this period. First, children develop a more nuanced understanding of race (Quintana, 1998) and greater motivation to show positive in-group bias in the peer group (Abrams, Rutland, Cameron, & Marques, 2003). Correspondingly, they begin to understand that it is easier to make and sustain same-ethnic friendships and
Teacher emotional support and student gender
The association between teacher emotional support and cross-ethnic friendship preferences may also depend on the gender of the student due to documented gender differences in friendship patterns and interactions with peers. As such, prior research has found that girls' friendships tend to be more exclusive (Eder & Hallinan, 1978), intimate, and supportive (Buhrmester & Furman, 1987; Maccoby, 1988; Rose & Rudolph, 2006; Way & Chen, 2000) than boys' friendships. These differences may be due to
Teacher emotional support and student ethnicity
The association between teacher emotional support and children's friendship preferences may also depend on the ethnicity of the student, for two reasons. First, baseline rates of cross-ethnic friendships themselves may differ by ethnicity. Several studies have indicated that European American students report having fewer cross-ethnic friends than do African American, Latina/o, and Asian students (Clark & Ayers, 1992; Davey, 1983; Denscombe, Szulc, Patrick, & Wood, 1986; Hallinan & Teixeira,
The present study
The main goal of this study was to examine the links between teacher emotional support and children's preferences for cross-ethnic friendships across the school year among 1st, 3rd, and 5th graders. Because we were interested in children's individual desire for friendships, we used unilateral friendship nominations as opposed to reciprocal ones, which capture not only a child's desire for friendships but also his or her attractiveness as a friend. Given that children vary widely in their rates
Participants
The data were drawn from a multi-cohort study of elementary classrooms, with each classroom studied at three points within a single school year. The study spanned over several years, and different schools and classrooms were recruited each year. The current analyses are based on data collected during years 2–4. Out of 91 classrooms that participated during that time, 80 were included in the present study. Eleven classrooms were excluded because they were predominantly African American or
Preliminary results
Table 1 shows correlations and descriptive statistics for individual- and classroom-level variables. There was moderate to strong rank-order stability in individual and classroom mean levels of preferences for cross-ethnic friendships over the year. Inspection of the means for the outcome indicates that students, on average, tended to prefer same- over cross-ethnic friendships at each time point. For example, at Time 1 the average value of individual log alpha was −0.27, which indicates that
Discussion
The main goal of this study was to examine children's preferences for cross- over same-ethnic friendships across the school year in the elementary school setting and the extent to which observed teacher emotional support predicts these preferences. Prior empirical evidence (Graham et al., 2014; Hamm et al., 2005; McGill, Way & Hughes, 2012; Shrum et al., 1988) and anecdotal evidence have indicated that children across different ethnic groups tend to display strong ethnic homophily, which may be
Implications, limitations, and directions for future research
Knowledge gleaned from this research can inform efforts to promote greater inclusion and tolerance and reduce prejudice among students in schools. A number of programs have been developed to improve intergroup attitudes among children and adolescents, many of which seem promising, particularly those that allow for and facilitate cross-ethnic contact and friendships (Beelmann & Heinemann, 2014; Pettigrew, Tropp, Wagner, & Christ, 2011). However, few of these programs have been successfully
Acknowledgements
This article was based on a doctoral dissertation completed by Marina Serdiouk at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This research was supported by grants from the William T. Grant and Spencer Foundations (#200900174) and from the Institute of Education Sciences (#R305A100344) awarded to co-PI's Philip Rodkin and Scott Gest. We express our deepest appreciation to Philip Rodkin (deceased) for his lasting contributions to this project and to the peer relations field. We are also
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