Fitting in and feeling good: Reciprocal associations between peer acceptance and emotions in the classroom

BACKGROUND: According to the control-value theory of achievement emotions, the classroom social environment is an important antecedent of children's emotions, with emotions, in turn, influencing this environment. We focus on a in CVT largely neglected but important aspect of CVT that has been largely neglected: peer relationships. AIMS: This longitudinal study examined within-child reciprocal relations between peer relationships in the classroom, specifically acceptance by peers, and children's experiences of enjoyment and anxiety. SAMPLE: A total of 1686 children (grades 4 to 6) from 78 classrooms participated across three waves of data collection during one school year. METHODS: We used a multi-informant approach including sociometric acceptance (i.e. the number of classmates who indicate they like a child) and self-perceived acceptance (i.e. the extent to which a child experiences peer liking). Enjoyment and anxiety in the classroom were assessed via child self-reports. Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models were used to examine reciprocal associations between acceptance and emotions. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Peer acceptance and children's enjoyment and anxiety were interconnected and relatively stable across the school year. Within-person fluctuations in self-perceived acceptance and enjoyment were related (i.e. cross-lagged effects) during the second half of the year, with small to medium effect sizes. When children experienced more enjoyment than usual, they subsequently tended to perceive more acceptance, and vice versa. Unexpectedly, higher anxiety at the start of the year predicted slightly more sociometric acceptance at the next wave. These findings highlight that both emotions and acceptance can serve as valuable starting points for strengthening children's positive classroom experiences.