Peer Effect on Students’ Performance through an Interpersonal Relationship Perspective

Peer effect refers to the impact that peers have on the learning of a specific person. In this study, we investigated the peer effect in the class through an interpersonal relationship perspective. 195 students of the preschool educational psychology course participated in the study. The data collected consisted of gender, age, grades, familial income, number of professional certifications, temperament types, and the degree centrality of social networks about learning, entertainment, and emotional support. The results showed firstly, that students’ number of professional licenses correlated with their degree centrality of learning and leisure linages; secondly, that their temperament correlated negatively and significantly with their degree centrality of leisure linkage; finally, that the degree centrality of leisure was intermediate between the number of professional licenses and student grades. In conclusion, the peer effect is not as simple as Manski’s propositions (1993). It was influenced by the type of interpersonal relationships.