The Secret Language of Peers: How Peer Behaviors Signal Mindset and Influence Classroom Experiences

• In Event: Dynamics of Student Engagement and Peer Influence in Collaborative Settings

Abstract

Given the important roles of peers in college students’ classroom experiences, the present study aims to identify specific peer behaviors that indicate their mindset beliefs to others and their impact on students’ psychological and academic experiences. We utilized qualitative focus groups (N = 15) and an experiment (N = 605) with undergraduate students. We found that seven peer behaviors, including self-deprecation, withdrawing effort, explicit verbal messages, competitiveness, disinterest in helping others, boasting about success, and downplaying struggles, influenced students’ perceptions of peer mindset, which in turn influenced their anticipated sense of belonging, imposter feelings, evaluative concerns, and academic challenge-avoidance. The findings underscore the importance of peer mindset behaviors in creating motivation-supportive classrooms.

Authors

• Eunjin Seo, Texas State University

• So Yeon Lee, The University of Alabama at Birmingham

• Katherine M. Muenks, University of Texas at Austin

• Yiqiu Yan, University of Texas at Austin