The Relation Between Academic Achievements, Peer Acceptance, and Self‐Esteem Among Chinese Adolescents: A Dyadic Analysis of Best Friendships

Friendship becomes increasingly crucial during adolescence. Prior studies examining the relations between adolescents’ academic achievements and self‐esteem have typically treated adolescents as isolated units. The current study considered adolescents’ embeddedness within crucial friendships, investigated the relation between best friends’ academic achievements and adolescents’ self‐esteem within dyadic friendship frameworks, and examined the mediating role of peer acceptance. Participants were 157 same‐gender best friend dyads (59.87% girls; M age = 11.83 years) in Shanghai, China. Assessments of academic achievements, peer acceptance, and self‐esteem were obtained from multiple sources, including teacher ratings, peer nominations, and self‐reports, respectively. Results from the Actor‐Partner Interdependence Analysis revealed that the academic achievements of both adolescents and their best friends positively predicted adolescents’ self‐esteem. For adolescents’ own academic achievements, the positive association with their self‐esteem was predominantly direct, when compared to the smaller indirect effect via peer acceptance. Whereas for best friends’ academic achievements, their positive association with adolescents’ self‐esteem was predominantly indirect, mediated by best friends’ higher peer acceptance. The current study revealed a positive spillover effect of best friends’ academic achievements on adolescents’ self‐esteem, an effect that was specifically associated with best friends’ peer acceptance rather than adolescents’ own peer acceptance. These findings highlight the importance of best friends in promoting Chinese adolescents’ psychological adjustment.