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Academic achievement, same- and cross-ethnic positive peer regard among Asian American and Latinx adolescents
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Academic achievement, same- and cross-ethnic positive peer regard among Asian American and Latinx adolescents
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Copyright 2023 Minci Zhang
Academic Achievement, Same- and Cross-Ethnic Positive Peer Regard among Asian American
and Latinx Adolescents
By
Minci Zhang
A Thesis Presented to be the
FACULTY OF THE USC DANA AND DAVID DORNSIFE COLLEGE OF LETTERS, ARTS
AND SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(PSYCHOLOGY)
August 2023
ii
Table of Contents
List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... iii
List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. iv
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... v
Chapter1:Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1
Ethnicity, Peers, and Achievement ........................................................... 2
Cross- and Same-Ethnic Positive Peer Regard in Multiethnic Schools .... 4
Gender Differences and SES .................................................................... 6
The Current Study ..................................................................................... 8
Chapter2: Methods ........................................................................................................................ 9
Participants ................................................................................................ 9
Procedures ............................................................................................... 10
Measures ................................................................................................. 10
Analytic Plan ........................................................................................... 12
Chapter3: Results ........................................................................................................................ 14
Descriptive Analyses and Bivariate Correlations ................................... 14
Ethnicity as a Moderating Factor in the Link between Achievement and
Same-Ethnic Peer Regard ....................................................................... 15
Gender as a Moderating Factor in the Link between Achievement and
Same-Ethnic Peer Regard ....................................................................... 15
Academic Achievement and Cross-Ethnic Positive Peer Regard ........... 16
Chapter4: Discussion .................................................................................................................. 17
Academic Achievement Predicts Positive Peer Regard.......................... 17
Underlying Mechanisms ......................................................................... 20
Positive Peer Regard Predicts Academic Achievement .......................... 21
Gender ..................................................................................................... 22
Strengths, Limitations, and Future Directions ........................................ 22
Conclusions ............................................................................................. 25
References ................................................................................................................................... 26
iii
List of Tables
Table 1: Descriptive Statistics for All Variables ........................................................................ 33
Table 2: Bivariate Correlations Among Positive Peer Regard Variables by Ethnic
Groups ......................................................................................................................................... 34
Table 3: Bivariate Correlations Among Academic Achievement Variables by Ethnic
Groups ......................................................................................................................................... 35
Table 4: Model Fit Indices .......................................................................................................... 36
iv
List of Figures
Figure1: Longitudinal Relationships Between Academic Achievement and Same-Ethnic
Positive Peer Regard with SES Controlled ................................................................................. 37
Figure2: Longitudinal Relationship Between Academic Achievement and Cross-Ethnic
Positive Peer Regard with SES Controlled ................................................................................. 38
v
Abstract
Research on associations between academic achievement and positive peer regard among
ethnic minority youth has yielded ambiguous findings. These discrepancies may be subserved by
distinguishing between positive peer regard within and across different ethnic groups in diverse
school settings. To address this gap, this short-term longitudinal study examined bidirectional
associations of academic achievement with same- and cross-ethnic positive peer regard among
Asian American and Latinx adolescents. 335 middle school students (52.8% girls; 65% Asian
American, 35% Latinx; T1 Mage = 12.27 years, SD = 0.71) were followed across two
consecutive school years. Participants completed a peer nomination inventory assessing multiple
dimensions of positive peer regard (i.e., reciprocal friendship, social acceptance, and respect),
and grades were obtained from school records. Academic achievement was predictive of
prospective positive peer regard received from same-ethnic peers only for Asian American
adolescents. In contrast, academic achievement predicted prospective positive peer regard
received from cross-ethnic peers only for Latinx adolescents. The findings suggest that academic
achievement was linked to social gains for both Asian American and Latinx students and
underscore the importance of disentangling the sources of positive peer regard in multiethnic
school environments.
Keywords: Cross-ethnic peer relationships, Same-ethnic peer relationships, Academic
achievement, Ethnicity, Adolescence
1
Chapter 1: Introduction
Developing positive peer relationships and achieving academic success are two important
tasks for adolescents in the school context. Not surprisingly, researchers have found that
adolescents’ adjustment in these critical domains tend to be correlated. The overall trend in the
literature indicates that students who are socially accepted by peers are likely to be academically
accomplished (Cillessen & van den Berg, 2012; De Bruyn & Cillessen, 2006), whereas peer
difficulties might interfere with academic engagement and school performance (Boulton et al.,
2008; Hoglund, 2007). However, associations between academic achievement and peer regard
may be influenced by adolescents’ ethnic background and identity. Educational success tends to
be positively regarded in some ethnic or racial contexts but might bring social sanctions in others
(Fuller ‐Rowell & Doan, 2010).
Although past work on ethnic or racial differences in links between achievement and peer
regard has been informative, research in this domain has been challenged by methodological
shortcomings that may complicate interpretations of findings. Investigators have tended to
conceptualize peer regard across the entire school population without considering potential
variations among different ethnic subgroups of students. Insofar as achievement attitudes and
values are driven by cultural processes underlying each ethnic group, high-achieving adolescents
might receive varied patterns of regard from peers of different ethnicities. Moreover, assessments
of positive peer regard have commonly been accomplished by single indices, and there have
been limited longitudinal findings that could clarify the temporal ordering of relations.
To address these limitations, we conducted a prospective investigation examining
bidirectional associations of academic achievement with same- and cross-ethnic positive peer
regard (encompassing reciprocal friendship, social acceptance, and respect) among Asian
2
American and Latinx adolescents in a multiethnic urban setting. Our focus on Asian American
and Latinx students is warranted as they constitute the two fastest-growing ethnic minority
groups in North American schools (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2022).
Both ethnic subgroups are characterized by relatively collectivist cultural values and histories of
recent immigration (Oyserman et al., 2002; Radford & Noe-Bustamante, 2019). However, Asian
American students, on average, tend to outperform Latinx students academically (Barrett et al.,
2012). Given that peers are a key source of influence shaping adolescents’ academic trajectories,
it is crucial to consider Asian American and Latinx students’ differential rates of academic
success in relation to the regard they receive from peers (Crosnoe et al., 2003; Stanton-Salazar &
Dornbusch, 1995).
Ethnicity, Peers, and Achievement
Associations between achievement and positive peer regard may be dependent on
adolescents’ own ethnic backgrounds and the broader ethnic context. Previous work
conceptualizing peer regard across the entire peer group has indicated that the link between
achievement and positive peer regard appears to be particularly salient for Asian American
students. For example, GPA is more strongly related to social acceptance for Asian American
students compared to their Latinx or African American peers (Duong et al., 2014; Fuller ‐Rowell
& Doan, 2010). Although empirical evidence has been limited, a number of theorists have
suggested that Asian American youth are especially likely to be embedded in peer contexts that
are characterized by favorable norms for academic competence (Ogbu, 1987; Steinberg et al.,
1992).
In contrast to Asian Americans, youth from other ethnic minority groups might not
receive positive peer regard for thriving academically. In their ethnography, Fordham and Ogbu
3
(1986) underscored the ‘oppositional culture’ in African American students’ community, where
academic success was associated with compromised peer-group functioning. The term ‘acting
White’ was ultimately coined to describe high-achieving African American students. In this
sense, academic success is perceived as a threat to one’s ethnic identity and consequently results
in social sanctions from in-group members for deviating from the ingroup’s values (Graham et
al., 1998). The theory has been further extended to Latinx students whose academic behaviors
are also negatively stereotyped. Theorists have posited that high-achieving Latinx adolescents
may experience social pressure with same-ethnic peers due to their failure to conform to the
ethnic ingroup culture (Portes & Zhou, 1993; Steinberg et al., 1992).
Although early work has provided theoretical premises underlying the potential
incompatibility between academic achievement and positive peer regard for Latinx youth,
available empirical findings present an ambivalent picture. On the one hand, academic
achievement and engagement have been negatively linked to peer respect (Graham et al., 1998)
and number of friends (Fryer & Torelli, 2010) and positively related to unpopularity and peer
victimization (Schwartz et al., 2013) among Latinx students. On the other hand, some studies
have revealed positive relations between GPA and social acceptance among Latinx youth
(Duong et al., 2014; Fuller-Rowell & Doan, 2010), and others have failed to establish
associations between academic achievement and compromised peer regard for Latinx students
(Cook & Ludwig, 1997; Lundy & Firebaugh, 2005).
The inconsistent findings revealed in past empirical investigations on Latinx youth, along
with the full pattern of results with regard to Asian American adolescents, might be clarified by
disentangling the sources of peer regard. In most existing research, indices of peer regard have
been calculated based on assessments conducted across the full peer group (e.g., social
4
acceptance measured by peer nominations obtained from all participating students). As values
and attitudes toward academics may systematically vary across ethnic groups, youth from
different ethnic backgrounds may differentially regard peers’ academic achievement. Hence, it is
necessary to further investigate relations between academic achievement and positive peer regard
within and across ethnic groups.
Cross- and Same-Ethnic Positive Peer Regard in Multiethnic Schools
The growing ethnic diversity in North American schools has increased the potential for
social interactions with peers from various ethnic backgrounds. Associations between academic
achievement and peer relations may be further complicated by the distinction between positive
peer regard within and outside adolescents’ ethnic groups. Investigators have yet to consider the
implication of positive peer regard by same- and cross-ethnic peers for academic adjustment, but
there are some related findings reported by friendship researchers. This work has produced
evidence that academic outcomes are differentially related to friendships with same- and cross-
ethnic peers. Kawabata & Crick (2015) reported a positive concurrent association between cross-
ethnic friendship and academic engagement from a racially diverse sample of elementary
students. Longitudinal studies have suggested possible bidirectional relationships between
friendships in multiethnic schools and academic outcomes, though some controversy may exist
(Lewis et al., 2018; Qi et al., 2022; Witkow & Fuligni, 2010). Given the adaptive correlates of
having cross-ethnic friends (e.g., social-cognitive skills, cooperative learning skills; Lease &
Blake, 2005; Rucinski et al., 2021), cross-ethnic friendship has been proposed to play a more
salient role in academic functioning above and beyond friendship with same-ethnic peers
(Kawabata & Crick, 2015).
5
Research on multiethnic friendship dyads has tended to conceptualize friendships broadly
as either same or cross-ethnic, without considering the specific ethnicities of adolescents’ cross-
ethnic friends. However, given that youth from different ethnic groups may also vary in their
academic values, academic success might be differentially evaluated by cross-ethnic friends of
different ethnicities. For instance, adolescents’ academic achievement might be more likely to be
positively linked to their cross-ethnic friendships with Asian American peers than with Latinx
peers.
Relationships between academic functioning and perceived same- and cross-ethnic
friendships may also be influenced by adolescents’ own ethnic backgrounds. Compared to Asian
American youth, Latinx students have demonstrated stronger academic orientation when
nominating cross-ethnic friends (Hamm et al., 2005). Using a national database, Newgent et al.
(2007) found that self-report of having cross-ethnic best friends predicted higher math scores for
Latinx students, whereas Asian students’ math scores were not affected by the ethnicity of their
self-reported best friends. In a more recent study, Chen et al. (2020) discovered that GPA
predicted increased friendship nominations received from cross-ethnic peers for Latinx students
and elevated same-ethnic friendship nominations received from same-ethnic peers for Asian
students over time. The extant findings suggest that academic achievement might be more
strongly related to cross-ethnic friendships for Latinx youth and same-ethnic friendships for
Asian students.
While previous work on associations between achievement and friendship within and
between ethnic groups has yielded informative findings, research in this domain has potential
shortcomings. First, investigators have tended to rely on either unilateral friendship nominations
or self-reported information about friends. Granted that these indices may provide insights into
6
one’s perceptions of friendship, friendships are generally conceptualized as mutual relationships
between peers. To address this gap, we operationalized friendship using reciprocated
nominations in the current investigation. A second limitation of this work is that unreciprocated
friendship has often been the sole index of positive peer regard. Peer relationship researchers
have portrayed positive peer regard as a multidimensional construct that incorporates peer
attitudes at both the dyadic and group level (Duong et al., 2014). To capture this complexity, we
supplemented reciprocated friendship nominations with assessments of social acceptance and
respect. Specifically, social acceptance indicates the degree to which one is liked by peers
(Cillessen & Rose, 2005), and respect refers to the extent to which one is perceived to have
attributes that are highly valued by peers (Graham et al., 1998).
Scholars have postulated that positive regard received from peers may facilitate
adolescents’ academic functioning by providing a sense of belongingness and promoting positive
school affect (Wentzel et al., 2021). Consistent with this proposition, studies have revealed
positive relations between academic achievement and all three of our hypothesized facets of
positive peer regard (Becker & Luthar, 2007; North et al., 2019; Wentzel & Caldwell, 1997).
However, relatively little is known about the associations of achievement with social acceptance
and respect received from same- and cross-ethnic peers (i.e., being liked or respected by
members of one’s own or other ethnic groups).
Gender Differences and SES
Relations between academic achievement and positive peer regard within and between
ethnic groups may be affected by potential moderators and confounders. While investigations on
the potential moderating role of gender in this relationship are limited, the existing literature has
long highlighted gender differences in ethnic minority youth’s academic experiences and
7
adjustment. Specifically, Asian American and Latinx girls are more likely to excel academically
and attain higher education levels than boys of the same ethnicities (Brandon, 1991; Lopez et al.,
2002). One possible explanation for this pattern is that Latinx boys may feel pressure from
societal expectations of “machismo” which views academic success as a threat to perceived
masculinity or social status (Ogbu, 2004; Oyserman et al., 2006). This hypothesis is supported by
findings that Latinx boys are subject to more negative academic stereotypes (e.g., perceived as
showing no care in schoolwork; Hudley & Graham, 2001) and experience greater peer sanctions
for thriving in school than Latinx girls (Graham et al., 1998; Schwartz et al., 2013). In the case
of Asian American youth, while the dominant concept of masculinity promotes diligence and
conscientiousness (Hsin, 2018), girls generally express a stronger sense of ethnic identity, which
is predictive of more positive academic attitudes and better academic performance than boys
(Qin, 2003; Fuligni et al., 2005).
Moreover, associations between academic achievement and positive peer regard may be
confounded by family socioeconomic status (SES). Higher family SES has been consistently
linked to better performance on standardized tests and higher school grades (Portes & MacLeod,
1996; White, 1982). The achievement gaps among youth from different ethnic groups can also be
partially accounted for by family SES. For example, Harris et al. (2008) found that though Latinx
students were outperformed by White students in school, the gap disappeared after controlling
for SES. In the same study, the academic advantage for Asian immigrant students over White
students was significantly reduced after holding SES constant. Consistent with these findings,
Pong et al. (2005) reported diminished academic gaps between Latinx immigrant students and
White students after accounting for their family SES.
The Current Study
8
The present study sought to examine prospective associations between academic
achievement and positive regard received from same- and cross-ethnic peers among Asian
American and Latinx adolescents. Specifically, we treated positive peer regard as an overarching
construct incorporating reciprocal friendship, social acceptance, and respect. We expected
bidirectional relationships between academic achievement and same-ethnic positive peer regard
for Asian American adolescents (i.e., achievement predicts prospective positive same-ethnic peer
regard; positive same-ethnic peer regard predicts prospective achievement). In contrast, we
anticipated that bidirectional relationships would exist between achievement and cross-ethnic
positive peer regard for Latinx adolescents. Though no a priori hypotheses for gender differences
were made, the moderating role of gender was tested in links between achievement and positive
regard received from same- and cross-ethnic peers as an exploratory goal.
9
Chapter 2: Methods
Participants
The current study was conducted as part of a larger project that focused on peer
relationships and academic success in an ethnically diverse middle school (Duong et al., 2014).
This middle school was located in a semi-urban, lower-middle-class neighborhood in Southern
California. The majority of residents of this community were Asian American, and about a
quarter of the residents identified as Latinx (United States Census Bureau, 2021). The current
study analyzed two waves of data collected during consecutive spring semesters. At the initial
assessment (T1), all students from the school (N = 921), who were sixth, seventh, and eighth
graders, were invited to participate in the study. Of these students, 79.3% (N = 730; 54% girls;
Mage = 12.74 years) returned parental consent and assented to take part in the project. In the
following year (T2), 751 students participated in the study, 403 of which (53.1% girls) had also
participated in T1. We conducted eight t-tests to examine potential systematic differences
between retained and attrited students in academic achievement, positive peer regard, family SES
and generational status. These students did not differ on any of the T1 variables, except that
attrited students were from slightly lower family SES backgrounds (t(591) = -2.21, p = .03).
The ethnic composition of students who participated in both waves of data collection, as
determined by self-reported ethnicity, was 54.1% Asian, 29.0% Latinx, 1.5% White, 12.7%
mixed, and 2.7% other or not classified. Due to cell size constraints and in light of the aims of
the current study, we limited our analyses to students identifying as Asian American and Latinx,
who constituted about 85% of the original longitudinal sample. To avoid confounding our
results, we excluded target adolescents' positive peer regard received from students belonging to
ethnic groups other than Asian American or Latinx. The vast majority of these students had
10
unknown ethnicity (i.e., mixed or unclassified), which precluded us from making a priori
predictions about them. Therefore, a total of 335 middle school students were included in the
analytic sample (52.8% girls; T1 Mage = 12.27 years, SD = 0.71). The final sample was
comprised of 65% Asian American and 35% Latinx students, with the majority indicating being
of Vietnamese and Mexican descent.
Procedure
At each time point, questionnaires were group administered in students’ classes during
one class period that lasted 55 minutes. Students self-reported personal background information
(e.g., gender, ethnicity) and completed a peer-nomination inventory. Two trained graduate and
undergraduate researchers were assigned to each classroom. One read aloud the standardized
instructions and each questionnaire item, while the other walked around to answer questions. At
both measurement occasions, school records were reviewed at the end of the school year to
obtain students’ academic course grades. The project was conducted in compliance with the
ethical standards of the American Psychological Association and was approved by the [masked
for review] Internal Review Board.
Measures
Self-Report Measures
Demographic Survey. Participants reported their basic demographics during both waves
of data collection, including their age, gender, self-identified ethnicity, and other background
information. We coded gender (0 = girls; 1 = boys) and ethnicity (0 = Latinx; 1 = Asian
American) as dichotomous variables.
SES. Family SES was derived from students’ self-report on both parents’ occupation and
education levels at T1 using the Hollingshead four-factor index (Hollingshead, 1975).
11
Occupation level was coded from open-ended responses by two trained undergraduate research
assistants, whose discrepancies were resolved through discussion.
Assessment of Same- and Cross-Ethnic Positive Peer Regard
Participants completed a 19-item peer nomination inventory during each wave of data
collection. Peer nominations have yielded reliable and valid estimates with single-item scales,
given the large sample size of raters per item (Coie et al., 1995).
Same- and Cross-Ethnic Social Acceptance and Respect. Each participant received an
alphabetized roster with the names of 50 randomly selected students in their grade level
(Bellmore et al., 2010). Participants’ names did not appear on the list they received, and each
participant’s name appeared on 50 separate lists. Students were asked to nominate up to 9 peers
they ‘like a lot’ from the roster they received. They were also asked to nominate up to 9 peers
they ‘respect’. We then calculated the same and cross-ethnic liking and respect proportional
scores. Nominations within students of the same ethnicity were counted as same-ethnic (e.g., an
Asian American student nominated another Asian American student). Conversely, nominations
across students of different ethnicities were treated as cross-ethnic (e.g., an Asian American
student nominated a Latinx student). Proportion scores for same- and cross-ethnic social
acceptance were created separately (Kelleghan et al., 2019). We divided the sum of the
nominations one received from same- or cross-ethnic peers by the total number of available
same- or cross-ethnic raters.
Number of Reciprocal Same- and Cross-Ethnic Friends. Each participant received an
additional alphabetized roster with the names of all consenting students in their grade level.
Students identified their ‘very best friend’ and up to 10 additional ‘really close friends’. Two
students were classified as friends if they reciprocally nominated each other for either item
12
(Schwartz et al., 2008). While past investigations tended to rely on self-reports or unilateral
friendship nominations, their approaches assessed adolescents’ perceptions of friendship rather
than actual friendship dyads. Our theories on associations between academic achievement and
positive peer regard are dependent on the intimate and mutual exchange between friends that is
best operationalized by reciprocal nominations. If a dyad consisted of students of different
ethnicities (i.e., one Asian American and one Latinx student), the friendship was coded as cross-
ethnic. If a dyad consisted of students of the same ethnicity (i.e., two Asian American or two
Latinx students), the friendship was considered same-ethnic. The total number of same- and
cross-ethnic friends was calculated for all participants.
Academic Achievement
Participants’ math, language arts, and science grades were obtained from school records
at both time points. Students’ performance in different subjects was evaluated by distinct
teachers. For subsequent analysis, letter grades were transformed to a numerical scale with equal
increments between each grade (‘‘F’’ = 0.0 to ‘‘A’’ = 4.0, with a 1.0 point increase for every full
letter grade).
Analytic Plan
To examine longitudinal associations between academic achievement and positive peer
regard, we developed cross-lagged panel models in the context of Structural Equation Modeling
(SEM). Separate models were created for adolescents’ positive regard received from same- and
cross-ethnic peers. The analyses were conducted using AMOS statistical packages (Arbuckle &
Wothke, 1999). Within AMOS, full information maximum likelihood (FIML) was used to
estimate missing data (Wothke, 2000). The overall fit of the hypothesized model was assessed
using the comparative fit index (CFI; Bentler, 1980) and the root mean square error of
13
approximation (RMSEA; Steiger & Lind, 1980). To support adequate model fit, the following
needs to be achieved: CFI > .95 and RMSEA < .06 (Hu & Bentler, 1999).
Same- and cross-ethnic positive peer regard at both time points were operationalized as
latent constructs incorporating T1 and T2 same- and cross-ethnic reciprocal friendship, social
acceptance, and respect. T1 and T2 math, language arts, and science grades were used to create
the latent variables for academic achievement at both time points. Auto-regression was taken into
account by including the stability of academic achievement and positive peer regard constructs
over time in the models. The concurrent associations between achievement and positive peer
regard were included by allowing the constructs (T1) and error variances (T2) to correlate within
each time point. Family SES was included in the models as a covariate that was allowed to
correlate with the constructs at T1 and predict the constructs at T2.
We conducted multi-group analyses to examine the hypothesized ethnic and gender
moderation on the two cross-lagged paths (academic achievement predicts positive peer regard;
positive peer regard predicts academic achievement). The unconstrained models were compared
to models in which the path of interest was constrained to be equivalent across the two ethnic
groups or the two gender groups (Jöreskog, 1971). Ethnic or gender differences were determined
by the chi-square differences between the unconstrained and constrained models. When
constraining the path across groups improved model fit, separate models were developed for
each group as moderation was supported.
Measures, data, and analysis code of this study will be available upon requests.
Descriptive analyses and bivariate correlations were conducted in SAS (SAS Institute Inc, 1999).
All other analyses were performed in AMOS (Arbuckle & Wothke, 1999). We did not pre-
register the design or analyses of this study.
14
Chapter 3: Results
Descriptive Analyses and Bivariate Correlations
Means and standard deviations for all study variables are presented in Table 1 separately
by ethnicity and gender. We conducted a series of t-tests to examine the ethnic and gender
differences for all variables. Given the large number of effects presented, significance was
evaluated using a conservative critical value of .001. Asian American students earned higher
grades for all subjects than Latinx students at both time points. Latinx adolescents had a higher
level of same-ethnic social acceptance at T1. Girls scored higher on language arts at T1 than
boys. Compared to boys, girls also had more same-ethnic friends at T2.
We examined the distributions of all variables before conducting inferential analyses. The
positive peer regard variables tended to be positively skewed and leptokurtic. To normalize the
distributions, we applied logarithmic transformations to the same- and cross-ethnic positive peer
regard constructs.
Table 2 and Table 3 summarizes bivariate correlations for positive peer regard variables
and academic achievement variables computed separately for Latinx and Asian American
students. Correlations were again evaluated with a critical value of .001 to correct for type 1
error rates. Most same-ethnic positive peer regard variables were positively correlated for both
groups of students. For Latinx students, cross-ethnic reciprocal friendship and social acceptance
were stable over time, and the three cross-ethnic peer regard variables were positively correlated
within each time point. For Asian American students, cross-ethnic reciprocal friendship was
stable over time, and cross-ethnic respect was positively correlated with cross-ethnic social
acceptance at T2. Most T1 and T2 academic achievement variables were positively correlated for
both groups of students.
15
Ethnicity as a Moderating Factor in the Link between Achievement and Same-Ethnic Peer
Regard
After the evaluation of bivariate correlations, we moved on to examining our inferential
models. As shown in Table 3, the full-sample model yielded an acceptable fit to the data. The
stabilities of academic achievement and positive peer regard received from same-ethnic peers
were significant. T1 achievement did not predict T2 same-ethnic positive peer regard, and T1
same-ethnic positive peer regard was not significantly related to T2 achievement.
To examine the potential moderating effect of ethnicity, we compared the unconstrained
model to models in which the two cross-lagged paths were constrained to be equivalent across
the two ethnic groups (see Table 3). Results revealed significant ethnic differences in the
relationship between T1 achievement and T2 same-ethnic positive peer regard, as removing the
constraint significantly improved the model fit (Δ 𝑋 2
(1) = 5.4, p = .02). As illustrated in Figure 1,
T1 achievement predicted T2 positive same-ethnic peer regard only for Asian American
students. There was no indication of moderation by ethnicity in the relationship between T1
same-ethnic positive peer regard and T2 achievement, as the removal of constraint failed to
improve model fit (Δ 𝑋 2
(1) = 0.2, n.s.).
Gender as a Moderating Factor in the Link between Achievement and Same-Ethnic Peer
Regard
To evaluate gender as a potential moderator, we compared the unconstrained model to
models in which the two cross-lagged paths were constrained to be equivalent across the two
gender groups (see Table 3). No moderation by gender was supported for either of the cross-
lagged paths, as the model fit was not significantly improved by the removal of constraints
16
(academic achievement → positive peer regard: Δ 𝑋 2
(1) = 1.1, n.s.; positive peer regard →
academic achievement: Δ 𝑋 2
(1) = 0.01, n.s.).
Academic Achievement and Cross-Ethnic Positive Peer Regard
As demonstrated in Table 3, the full-sample model achieved an adequate fit to the data.
Academic achievement and positive peer regard received from cross-ethnic peers were stable
over time. T1 achievement did not predict T2 cross-ethnic positive peer regard, and T1 cross-
ethnic positive peer regard was not significantly related to T2 achievement.
For the analyses of ethnicity as a potential moderator, the unconstrained model was
compared to models in which the cross-lagged paths were constrained across the two ethnic
groups (see Table 3). We found significant ethnic differences in the relationship between T1
achievement and T2 cross-ethnic positive peer regard, as removing the constraint significantly
improved the model fit (Δ 𝑋 2
(1) = 4.2, p = .04). As shown in Figure 2, T1 achievement was
associated with T2 positive cross-ethnic peer regard only for Latinx students. Moderation by
ethnicity was not supported in the association between T1 cross-ethnic positive peer regard and
T2 achievement, given the negligible changes in model fit after removing the constraint (Δ 𝑋 2
(1)
= 0.4, n.s.). We did not conduct multi-group analyses using gender as the grouping variable in
that the unconstrained model was unidentified.
17
Chapter 4: Discussion
An important focus of existing research on relations between academic achievement and
peer group outcomes during adolescence has been potential ethnic group differences. The
available findings suggest that academic success is particularly likely to be associated with
positive peer regard for Asian American adolescents (Fuller-Rowell & Doan, 2010), whereas the
patterns for Latinx adolescents have been less clear (Cook & Ludwig, 1997; Fryer & Torelli,
2010). Our assumption was that these ambiguities could partially reflect peer regard indices
summarized across ethnic groups in ethnically diverse school settings. The present study sought
to extend existing work by further distinguishing between positive peer regard received from
same- and cross-ethnic peers for Asian American and Latinx youth.
This project also sought to address potential methodological challenges that may
complicate findings on the potential implications of ethnicity in the link between academic
achievement and positive peer regard. With a few exceptions (Qi et al., 2022), there has been a
paucity of longitudinal findings that could shed light on the temporal ordering of the relations.
Moreover, investigators have also tended to rely on single-index assessments of social
adjustment, which did not fully capture positive peer regard as a multidimensional construct. To
resolve these limitations, we conducted a prospective investigation on the bidirectional
associations of academic achievement with same- and cross-ethnic positive peer regard
(incorporating reciprocal friendship, social acceptance, and respect) among Asian American and
Latinx adolescents. This is one of the first studies to demonstrate that academic achievement
predicted positive same-ethnic peer regard only for Asian American adolescents and was
predictive of positive cross-ethnic peer regard only for Latinx adolescents.
Academic Achievement Predicts Positive Peer Regard
18
One of our central objectives was to examine potential ethnic differences in associations
between academic achievement and prospective same- and cross-ethnic positive peer regard
among Asian American and Latinx adolescents. Comparisons between these students are of
particular theoretical interest because, despite sharing similar collective cultures, Asian
American adolescents tend to demonstrate greater academic success and more favorable
achievement values than Latinx students (Barrett et al., 2012). Previous studies examining
relationships between achievement and peer regard have tended to conceptualize peer regard
across the entire peer group. The general trend in the literature indicates positive links between
academic achievement and social adjustment for Asian American adolescents, though findings
on the temporal ordering have been inconclusive (Duong et al., 2014). Studies focusing on
Latinx adolescents have yielded more ambiguous patterns, with inconsistent results revealed
across projects (Graham et al., 1998; Lundy & Firebaugh, 2005).
We hypothesized that the inconsistency could be subserved by clarifying who provided
peer regard in multiethnic school settings. Students in ethnically diverse schools have the
opportunity to interact with peers from various ethnic backgrounds. As academic norms within
different ethnic groups are shaped by underlying cultural processes, adolescents’ academic
accomplishments might be differentially regarded by peers of varied ethnicities. Our
presumption was that academic achievement would be more likely to be positively regarded by
Asian American students than Latinx adolescents. The results of multi-group analyses supported
our hypotheses. We found that academic achievement was positively related to prospective
same-ethnic positive peer regard only for Asian American students and prospective cross-ethnic
positive peer regard only for Latinx students.
19
Our findings resonated with past investigations using ethnically diverse samples
(including White, African American, Asian American, and Latinx youth). Academic
performance was found to be concurrently linked to cross-ethnic friendship among Latinx
adolescents (Hamm et al., 2005; Newgent et al., 2007). Other researchers have found that
academic achievement was positively linked to prospective same-ethnic friendships for Asian
American adolescents and prospective cross-ethnic friendships for Latinx students (Chen et al.,
2020). One potential shortcoming of the available findings is that the race or ethnicity of
adolescents’ cross-ethnic friends was unidentified, so studies were unable to draw conclusions on
peer relationships between youth from two particular ethnic groups. In addition, these existing
studies have relied on unreciprocated friendship measures (e.g., self-report or unilateral
nominations) and did not capture friendships as mutual relationships (e.g., Newgent et al., 2007).
We addressed the limitations by focusing on peer interactions between Asian American
and Latinx adolescents. Our findings indicated that academic achievement predicted Asian
American students’ same-ethnic positive peer regard and Latinx students’ positive peer regard
received from their Asian American peers. In other words, high-achieving adolescents from both
ethnic groups were positively evaluated by Asian American students. Our results suggest that
Asian American students’ academic orientation shaped their peer relationships with both ethnic
ingroup and outgroup members. In contrast, academic success did not appear to play as salient a
role in Latinx students’ same- or cross-ethnic social relations.
We also assessed adolescents’ friendships using reciprocated nominations. Compared to
adolescents’ perceptions of friendship assessed by unreciprocated measures, we believe
reciprocal friendships, characterized by warmth, support, and intimacy, are more suitable for
depicting positive peer regard. However, we did not solely rely on reciprocal friendship as an
20
index of positive peer regard. We extended the friendship literature by also incorporating peer-
group level indices, as peer relationship researchers have emphasized the multidimensional
nature of positive peer regard (Duong et al., 2014). The results of our analyses highlight links
between academic achievement and adolescents’ prospective positive peer regard as an
overarching construct encompassing reciprocal friendship, social acceptance, and respect.
Underlying Mechanisms
What might underlie the disparate patterns of relationships between academic
achievement and same- and cross-ethnic positive peer regard among Asian American and Latinx
adolescents? One possible explanation is that Asian cultures tend to emphasize that cognitive
abilities are malleable and can be developed through effort (Li, 2004). Consequently, Asian
American students are inclined to believe in direct associations between academic effort and
achievement outcomes and are thus more likely to exert themselves at school than youth of other
ethnicities (Hsin & Xie, 2014). Consistent with these findings, other empirical work has
demonstrated that Asian American students valued and perceived academic effort as more
socially acceptable than Latinx youth (Duong et al., 2014; Duong et al., 2021). When nominating
friends or someone they like and respect among both ethnic in-group and out-group members,
Asian American students might be more likely to use school performance as a criterion for
making such decisions.
Compared to Asian American youth, the picture is more complicated with regard to
Latinx youth’s academic orientations. Ogbu (1987) argued that ethnic minorities who are subject
to economic and cultural oppression in the U.S. society (e.g., African Americans and Latinx)
would adopt an oppositional collective identity against the dominant culture, which may be
manifested in behaviors such as devaluing achievement in school settings (Fordham & Ogbu,
21
1986). This hypothesis, however, has been criticized by a number of scholars for ignoring the
heterogeneity among these minority youth based on gender, SES, and generational status, which
may result in variations in their academic attitude and performance (e.g., Flores‐González, 1999;
Gibson, 2005). Later empirical work evaluating the oppositional culture proposition within
African American and Latinx adolescents’ peer groups has produced conflicting findings (e.g.,
Cook & Ludwig, 1997; Fryer & Torelli, 2010). The current study contributed to the ongoing
controversies by demonstrating that academic achievement predicted cross-ethnic positive peer
regard one year later for Latinx adolescents. Our findings suggest that Latinx adolescents’
academic competence would be positively regarded by peers identified with cultures that value
academic success.
Positive Peer Regard Predicts Academic Achievement
Our results indicated that academic achievement predicted prospective same-ethnic
positive peer regard for Asian American adolescents and cross-ethnic positive peer regard for
Latinx students. However, our findings for the reverse pathway (i.e., same- or cross-ethnic
positive peer regard predicting academic achievement) were less clear. A body of research has
underscored the benefits of positive same- and cross-ethnic peer relationships on youth’s
academic adjustment (Benner & Yan, 2014; Rucinski et al., 2021). In line with these
propositions, we hypothesized that academic achievement would be predicted by same-ethnic
positive peer regard among Asian American and cross-ethnic positive peer regard among Latinx
students. However, we found no evidence supporting these hypotheses. Similar patterns were
uncovered by other short-term longitudinal studies that found reciprocal cross-ethnic friendship
and cross-ethnic liking did not predict changes in students’ academic performance (Lewis et al.,
2018; Qi et al., 2022). Effects on academic achievement might be difficult to detect given the
22
high stability of students’ course grades during the one-year assessment period. It is likely that
the potential effect of positive peer regard on the changes in students’ academic outcomes takes
longer than one school year to unfold. Researchers have suggested that longer-term designs are
ideal for detecting changes in academic adjustment (Schwartz et al., 2005).
Gender
Our results indicated a significant main effect of gender on students’ academic
achievement, with girls outperforming boys in language arts. This finding is consistent with prior
research that discovered gender differences in achievement favoring girls (Voyer & Voyer,
2014). Theorists have postulated that adolescents’ academic behaviors and orientations could
also be influenced by the intersection of gender and ethnicity. The Latinx male culture tends to
promote the idea that academic success would interfere with the “cool” and “tough” masculine
ideal (Ogbu, 2004), whereas the masculinity concept in Asian American culture is generally
more permissive of academic endeavors (Hsin, 2018). Given the lack of available findings on
possible gender differences in links between academic achievement and positive peer regard
within and between ethnic groups, we conducted the moderation analyses of gender without a
priori hypotheses. Our results did not show evidence for moderation by gender. Future
investigations are warranted to further explore possible gender differences in youth’s social
relationships with peers from various ethnic backgrounds. A potentially relevant future research
agenda is associations between cross-gender peer relationships and adjustment and how the
patterns may hold for different ethnic groups.
Strengths, Limitations, and Future Directions
This multi-informant, longitudinal study has expanded the research on academic
achievement and positive peer regard by demonstrating that the relation was shaped by the
23
complex interplay between adolescents’ own and their peers’ ethnicity. It was one of the few
studies that adopted a multidimensional approach to operationalizing positive peer regard and
assessed friendship through reciprocal nominations. This study also reflected the shifting
demographics in North American schools by investigating peer interactions between adolescents
from two ethnic minority groups that constituted a significant proportion of the student
population. Using cross-lagged panel models, the current study shed light on the temporal
ordering of the associations such that academic achievement preceded adolescents’ positive
regard received from peers.
Some potential limitations of the current study should also be acknowledged. First, our
analyses were based on data from a single school, with Asian American and Latinx adolescents
accounting for about 80% of the student body. We believe our sample suffices as an appropriate
representation of the ethnic composition of North American public schools in urban settings.
Since 2014, non-Hispanic White youth have no longer been the majority of the U.S. public
school student population (NCES, 2021). Specifically, the New York City and Los Angeles
public school districts, the two largest urban public school districts in the U.S., each comprised
70% and 80% Latinx and Asian American students combined (NCES, 2022). Our findings
should, nevertheless, be generalized with caution to schools with varied ethnic compositions
since youth’s peer relations are shaped by the ethnic composition of the peer group (Chen &
Graham, 2015).
Our findings may not be generalizable to developmental stages other than early
adolescence. As children progress to later stages of development, peer-group influences (e.g.,
norms and peer pressure) become increasingly salient in one’s academic orientation (Juvonen &
Knifsend, 2016). There is also evidence indicating that the ethnic composition of youth’s social
24
network changes as a function of age (Lee et al., 2007). It is not yet clear whether the ethnic
differences in the longitudinal relations between academic achievement and same- and cross-
ethnic positive peer regard would remain constant across age groups.
Although we discovered differential relations between academic achievement and
prospective same- and cross-ethnic positive peer regard between Asian American and Latinx
adolescents, we did not examine potential mechanisms underlying our findings. Individual-level
factors, including ethnic identity and acculturation, as well as contextual-level factors, including
classroom ethnic composition and achievement norms, might contribute to the observed ethnic
differences. Moreover, we did not consider indicators of social power (e.g., popularity) or
aversive peer relations (e.g., victimization), as our theory was limited to positive feelings and
attitudes between peers. Future studies should investigate the role of different individual- and
contextual-level variables in associations between academic achievement and various
conceptualizations of peer relationships.
Lastly, a relevant point to Asian American and Latinx youth’s school adjustment is their
generational status. Compared to second- or third-generation immigrant youth in the US, first-
generation immigrant students have demonstrated stronger academic performance, more positive
academic attitude, and more active engagement with school despite having fewer economic and
social resources (Glick & White, 2003; Pong & Zeiser, 2012; Suárez-Orozco et al., 2009). This
pattern that emerged in the immigration literature has been labeled the “immigrant paradox”
(Rumbaut, 2004). Given that our sample is characterized by a disproportionately large number of
second-generation immigrants, we re-ran the analyses using only second-generation Latinx and
Asian American students
1
. Future investigations should consider how immigrant youth’s
1
Participants self-reported their own and their parents’ birth countries. Students who were born outside the US were
considered first-generation immigrants. Second-generation immigrant students were US-born with at least one
25
generational status may shape the relations between their academic achievement and same- and
cross-ethnic positive peer regard.
Conclusions
The rapidly increasing ethnic diversity in North American classrooms underscores the
importance of examining the social interactions among youth from various ethnic backgrounds.
In a multiethnic school setting where Asian American and Latinx students were the numerical
majority, we examined longitudinal associations between academic achievement and
adolescents’ same- and cross-ethnic positive peer regard (incorporating reciprocal friendship,
social acceptance, and respect). Our results demonstrated diverging patterns among Asian
American and Latinx adolescents. We found that academic achievement predicted prospective
positive same-ethnic peer regard only for Asian American students and prospective positive
cross-ethnic peer regard only for Latinx students, with family SES accounted for. Our findings
suggest that academic success was related to social gains for both Asian American and Latinx
students, but whether the positive peer regard came from ethnic in-group or out-group members
varied between these two groups of students.
foreign-born parent. US-born students with two US-born parents were considered third-generation immigrants
(Fuligni et al., 2005). Participants in the final sample were 66 first-generation, 247 second-generation, and 10 third-
generation immigrant students. We re-ran the analyses using only the second-generation students (66% Asian
American and 34% Latinx). The patterns for same-ethnic positive peer regard remained identical to the full-sample
findings (β Asian American = .14, β Latinx = -.21, ΔX2(1) = 5.9, p =.015). The patterns for cross-ethnic positive
peer regard remained in the same direction as the full-sample findings but failed to reach significance due to
decreased power (β Asian American = -.05, β Latinx = .41, ΔX2(1) = 3.4, p =.065). The results indicated that our
initial findings were generally supported among second-generation students.
26
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33
Table1
Descriptive Statistics for All Variables
34
Table2
Bivariate Correlations Among Positive Peer Regard Variables by Ethnic Groups
Variable 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
T1 same-ethnic positive peer regard
1. Friendship — .21
.28 .41
*
.30
*
.25 -.22 -.08 .04 -.15 -.01 -.11
2. Social acceptance .40
*
— .78
*
.31
*
.30 .35
*
-.12 .03 .02 -.18 .19 .07
3. Respect .36
*
.77
*
— .21 .32
*
.40
*
-.15 .09 .10 -.09 .02 -.01
T2 same-ethnic positive peer regard
4. Friendship .45
*
.37
*
.24
*
— .43
*
.41
*
-.23 -.07 -.05 -.09 -.00 .06
5. Social acceptance .37
*
.36
*
.32
*
.29
*
— .83
*
-.02 .18 .05 -.04 .13 .09
6. Respect .33
*
.33
*
.28
*
.27
*
.70
*
— -.09 .17 .05 -.04 .07 .06
T1 cross-ethnic positive peer regard
7. Friendship -.06 -.08 -.03 -.08 -.02 .04 — .42
*
.30 .48
*
.36
*
.29
8. Social acceptance -.03 -.04 -.05 -.00 -.01 .09 .05 — .73
*
.38
*
.38
*
.30
9. Respect .00 .02 .06 .04 .00 .13 .09 .63
*
— .42
*
.32
*
.22
T2 cross-ethnic positive peer regard
10. Friendship -.06 -.06 -.04 -.03 .02 .03 .56
*
.09 .03 — .31
*
.37
*
11. Social acceptance .05 .14 .04 .01 .25
*
.21 -.03 .17 .07 -.00 — .51
*
12. Respect .02 .13 .00 -.00 .22 .18 -.04 .04 -.04 -.00 .76
*
—
Note. Correlations for Latinx students are presented in the upper triangle, and those for Asian American students are in the lower
triangle. * p < .001.
35
Variable 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.
T1 academic achievement
1. Math — .59
*
.55
*
.28 .49
*
.67
*
2. Language Arts .53
*
— .62
*
.34
*
.41
*
.49
*
3. Science .51
*
.60
*
— .34
*
.51
*
.53
*
T2 academic achievement
4. Math .56
*
.47
*
.41
*
— .31
*
.23
5. Language Arts .57
*
.51
*
.52
*
.50
*
— .59
*
6. Science .63
*
.49
*
.52
*
.56
*
.65
*
—
Note. Correlations for Latinx students are presented in the upper triangle, and
those for Asian American students are in the lower triangle. * p < .001.
Table3
Bivariate Correlations Among Academic Achievement Variables by Ethnic Groups
36
Table 4
Model Fit Indices
Model χ
2
df CFI RMSEA
Same-ethnic positive peer regard
Ethnicity
Full sample 151.356 55 .953 .072 [.059, .086]
Unconstrained 189.696 104 .947 .050 [.038, .061]
Constrained (academic achievement
→ positive peer regard)
195.065 105 .945 .051 [.040, .062]
Constrained (positive peer regard →
academic achievement)
189.931 105 .948 .049 [.038, .060]
Gender
Unconstrained 199.008 110 .956 .049 [.038, .060]
Constrained (academic achievement
→ positive peer regard)
201.064 111 .955 .049 [.038, .060]
Constrained (positive peer regard →
academic achievement)
199.020 111 .956 .049 [.038, .060]
Cross-ethnic positive peer regard
Ethnicity
Full sample 78.433 54 .986 .037 [.016, .054]
Unconstrained 145.945 110 .973 .031 [.015, .044]
Constrained (academic achievement
→ positive peer regard)
150.121 111 .971 .033 [.017, .045]
Constrained (positive peer regard →
academic achievement)
146.319 111 .974 .031 [.015, .044]
37
38
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Academic achievement, same- and cross-ethnic positive peer regard among Asian American and Latinx adolescents
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