Students’ profiles of social and learning behavior at school: dimensionality and determinants

Abstract Using latent profile analysis, this study aimed to explore latent profiles of social and learning behavior among 4,045 students from grades 4–12 in Germany. Furthermore, the relations of these profiles with some covariates (i.e., gender, age, school type, school grades) were examined. Results supported a five-profile solution based on ten curriculum-aligned factors of social and learning behavior, i.e., six factors for social behavior (cooperation, self-perception, self-control, empathy, self-assertion, and social relationships with peers), and four factors for learning behavior (endurance, concentration, independence, and diligence in learning). These five profiles were labeled Risk , High-Risk , Low Social Skills , Low Learning Skills , and Well-Adapted . Girls and younger students as well as students with better school grades were more likely to be assigned to the most favorable Well-Adapted profile relative to the High-Risk profile than boys and older students or students with lower grades. In addition, elementary school students were more likely to correspond to the most unfavorable Risk und High-Risk profiles relative to the Low Learning Skills profile than secondary school students who were more likely to be members of the Low Learning Skills profile relative to the Well-Adapted profile. Interventions should primarily support boys and older students with lower grades in their social and learning behavior, particularly at the end of elementary school years.