Be a little rude, but not too much: Exploring classroom incivility and social network position in adolescents

• In Event: Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Topic - Social Relationships

Abstract

Classroom incivility is often viewed as a minor issue, but it can profoundly affect both teachers and students. Incivility is defined as rude or disrespectful behaviors that violate social norms and have an unclear motivation (Andersson & Pearson, 1999). Although uncivil behaviors can be classified as low intensity compared to more severe forms of bullying or assault, the effects of classroom incivility are potentially widespread and severe (Andersson & Pearson, 1999), impacting teachers, as well as perpetrators, victims, and bystanders. Classroom incivility is a critical concept relating to the academic and psychosocial well-being of children and youth. Given the overt and social nature of uncivil behaviors in the classroom and the likely impact they have on youth relationships, a social network approach can provide an avenue for understanding the impact of youth’s uncivil behavior. Indeed, classroom incivility might impact both local relationships (e.g., talking to a close friend during class) and global relationships (e.g., speaking out of turn in front of the entire classroom), and social network analysis is uniquely equipped to explore these nuances (Wasserman & Faust, 1994). However, classroom incivility has yet to be examined as a construct via social network analysis. A benefit of social network analysis is that it allows for the exploration of relationship structures. As classroom incivility occurs in the presence of peers who can witness and react to the perpetrator's behavior, a social network approach can be used to understand the social consequences (rewards and/or costs) of engaging in uncivil behaviors. Whereas previous research has demonstrated that this low-level antisocial behavior can have adverse effects on both the learning environment and the perpetrator's well-being, research has yet to examine whether there are social benefits to this behavior.
Therefore, the goal of this exploratory study was to examine the relationship between classroom incivility and measures of social network position in order to gain an understanding of where youth who engage in classroom incivility were positioned in the social network, and if there might be potential social benefits for engaging in such behavior. We explored network position of 488 students in grades 5 to 8 between the ages of 9 and 14 (M = 11.48; SD = 1.14), within 19 grade level networks. We examined how classroom incivility related to incoming and mutual friendships, betweenness and Bonacich centrality, and social network prestige. Our findings highlight a general negative curvilinear association between classroom incivility and social network position. Specifically, children and youth who engage in moderate levels of classroom incivility have more friends and are leaders in the group (higher network prestige). In contrast, those who engage in higher or lower levels of classroom incivility have fewer friends and are less prestigious. These findings highlight the importance of intervening in uncivil classroom behavior, and therefore may be of particular interest to classroom teachers.

Authors

• Natalie Spadafora, Brock University
  Presenting Author

• Elizabeth Al-Jbouri, Brock University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Hannah McDowell, Brock University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Naomi Andrews, Brock University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Anthony A Volk, Brock University
  Non-Presenting Author