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Social network cohesion in school classes promotes prosocial behavior

Author

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  • Wouter van den Bos
  • Eveline A Crone
  • Rosa Meuwese
  • Berna Güroğlu

Abstract

Adolescence is a key period of social development at the end of which individuals are expected to take on adult social roles. The school class, as the most salient peer group, becomes the prime environment that impacts social development during adolescence. Using social network analyses, we investigated how individual and group level features are related to prosocial behavior and social capital (generalized trust). We mapped the social networks within 22 classrooms of adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years (N = 611), and collected data on social behaviors towards peers. Our results indicate that individuals with high centrality show both higher levels of prosocial behavior and relational aggression. Importantly, greater social cohesion in the classroom was associated with (1) reduced levels of antisocial behavior towards peers and (2) increased generalized trust. These results provide novel insights in the relationship between social structure and social behavior, and stress the importance of the school environment in the development of not only intellectual but also social capital.

Suggested Citation

  • Wouter van den Bos & Eveline A Crone & Rosa Meuwese & Berna Güroğlu, 2018. "Social network cohesion in school classes promotes prosocial behavior," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(4), pages 1-16, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0194656
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194656
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Cristina Méndez-Aguado & Rubén Trigueros & José Manuel Aguilar-Parra & Noelia Navarro-Gómez & Mª del Pilar Díaz-López & Juan M. Fernández-Campoy & Juan Gázquez-Hernández & José Carrión, 2020. "An Inclusive View of the Disability of Secondary School Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-11, November.
    2. Álvaro Carmona & Manuel Montanero, 2025. "Bullying and Social Exclusion of Students with Special Educational Needs in Primary Education Schools," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-18, July.
    3. Louise Gerharda Maria van Rijsewijk & Beau Oldenburg & Tom Augustinus Benedictus Snijders & Jan Kornelis Dijkstra & René Veenstra, 2018. "A description of classroom help networks, individual network position, and their associations with academic achievement," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(12), pages 1-22, December.
    4. Yang, Liu & Luo, Fang & Huang, Meiwei & Gao, Ting & Chen, Chuansheng & Ren, Ping, 2023. "Class cohesion and teacher support moderate the relationship between parental behavioral control and subjective well-being among adolescents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    5. Jiang, Zhi-Qiang & Wang, Peng & Ma, Jun-Chao & Zhu, Peican & Han, Zhen & Podobnik, Boris & Stanley, H. Eugene & Zhou, Wei-Xing & Alfaro-Bittner, Karin & Boccaletti, Stefano, 2023. "Unraveling the effects of network, direct and indirect reciprocity in online societies," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    6. Ge, Erhao & Cairang, Dongzhi & Mace, Ruth, 2022. "Religiosity structures social networks in a Tibetan population," OSF Preprints qpa4b, Center for Open Science.

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