“Psst … What Do You Think?” The Relationship between Advice Prestige, Type of Advice, and Academic Performance

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between classmates seeking out a student for advice (advice prestige) and that student's academic performance. Students' conversations could inhibit or encourage their academic performance depending on the conversation's topic. Specifically, it is hypothesized that as more classmates report asking a student for general advice, then the student would perform less well. In contrast, it is hypothesized that as more classmates report asking a student for class advice, then the student would perform better. Hypotheses (n 0139) were supported. Even after controlling for sex and GPA, less general-advice prestige and higher class-advice prestige relates to higher academic performance.

The influence of relationship networks on academic performance in higher education: a comparative study between students of a creative and a non-creative discipline

“…Most of them confirm the growing importance of this relationship (Baldwin et al 1997;Thomas 2000;Yang and Tang 2003;Yuan et al 2006;Smith and Peterson 2007;Rizzuto et al 2009;Hommes et al 2012;Gašević et al 2013). Consequently, social network position is expected to be a relevant predictor of academic performance of undergraduates in higher education.…”

“…Friendship ties are often considered as a source of psychosocial support (Ibarra 1995) that may help in dealing with the stresses and strains of negotiating a demanding educational program (Baldwin et al 1997). However, in other contributions, these ties are considered more a way to suppress successful learning, since the friendships may prevent students from developing new relationships and being exposed to constructive critiques (Smith and Peterson 2007).…”

“…Thus, as Smith and Peterson (2007) indicate, when predicting academic performance and involvement, it is not just the size of the social network but also the content of the ties. Therefore, one must distinguish between the different types of relationships that may occur between students in a class, since a purely formal relationship will not have the same influence as a friendship tie that presupposes some kind of social interaction that persists beyond the academic context.…”

“…These ties cover relationships that involve the exchange of friendship and trust and are generally more related to things that have nothing to do with class. With these ties, students often share values, habits and other characteristics and bond through mutual reinforcement of those similarities (Smith and Peterson 2007). Friendship ties are often considered as a source of psychosocial support (Ibarra 1995) that may help in dealing with the stresses and strains of negotiating a demanding educational program (Baldwin et al 1997).…”

“…Nevertheless, recent contributions have looked more closely at student networks arguing that when predicting students achievement and engagement in school, not only is the size of the social network important, but also the nature and content of the ties (Smith and Peterson 2007). Thus, academic links, namely those related to knowledge exchange, may have a stronger positive influence on student performance than those more related to friendship and trust.…”