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Article Excerpt
The present study investigated the extent to which peer group similarity in school burnout is due to peer group influence and the extent to which it is due to peer group selection. Moreover, the roles of academic achievement and gender in school burnout were examined. A total of 611 ninth graders were examined at the beginning of the final term of comprehensive school, and 614 were examined at the end of the final term. The results of the Multilevel Latent Growth Modeling showed that peer group influence was responsible for peer group similarity, but no evidence was found for peer group selection. The results showed further that high academic achievement protected group members against an increase in school burnout.
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Peer groups are among the most significant social contexts in adolescence (Magnusson & Stattin, 1998; Rubin, Bukowski, & Parker, 1998). Previous research has shown that the members of adolescents' peer groups are similar with respect to many characteristics and behaviors, such as internalizing and externalizing problem behavior (Cairns & Cairns, 1994; Hogue & Steinberg, 1995). Research in academic settings has shown that the members of peer groups are similar also with respect to academic achievement and learning motivation (Chen, Chang, & He, 2003; Kindermann, McCollam, & Gibson, 1996; Ryan, 2001). These similarities have been explained by reference to two processes: peer influence and selection (e.g., Cohen, 1977; Urberg, Luo, Pilgrim, & Degirmencioglu, 2003). Although several studies have examined the role of these two processes (e.g., Espelage, Holt, & Henkel, 2003; Kindermann et al., 1996; Ryan, 2001), previous research on this topic has two major limitations. First, only a few longitudinal studies (Cohen, 1977; Ennett & Bauman, 1994; Kindermann et al., 1996) have examined peer group influence and selection in the same study. Consequently, little is known about the relative importance of these processes in peer group similarity. Second, no prior studies have examined the roles of peer group influence and selection in adolescents' burnout in school context. Consequently, the present study investigated to what extent peer influence and selection contribute to peer group similarity in school burnout at the end of comprehensive school. Moreover, the roles of academic achievement and gender in regard to school burnout were investigated.
School Burnout among Adolescents
School provides an important developmental context for adolescents (Eccles, 2004). It has been found, for example, that adolescents' perceptions of and experiences in school are related to various adjustment outcomes, such as psychological stress and negative affect (Cole, Peeke, Dolezal, Murray, & Canzoniero, 1999; Crystal et al., 1994), self-esteem (Harter, 1996; Masi, Sbrana, Poli, Tomaiuolo, Favilla, & Marcheschi, 2000), anal subjective health complaints (Aro, Paronen, & Aro, 1987; Hurrelmann, Engel, & Weidman, 1992). Students who dislike school are more likely to experience internal and external problem behaviors, psychosomatic problems, and reduced quality of life (e.g., Jessor, 1991; Kasen, Johnson, & Cohen, 1990). Although many studies have examined the role of school experiences in adolescent adjustment, less is known about the extent to which adolescents connect stress and overload directly with school.
Burnout has been defined as emotional and mental exhaustion and as chronic stress syndrome in a certain life context that is caused by context-related overload, time pressure, and lack of resources (e.g., Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001; Iacovides, Fountoulakis, Kaprinis, & Kaprinis, 2003; Lee & Ashforth, 1996; Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001; Toppinen-Tanner, Ojajarvi, Vaananen, Kalimo, & Jappinen, 2005). The majority of research in burnout has been carried out in work contexts; however, it also may be usefully applied in the school setting. On the basis of research conducted in work contexts, it can be assumed that burnout in the school context consists of three dimensions: exhaustion due to study demands, cynical and detached attitude toward one's studies, and feelings of incompetence as a student (Salmela-Aro & Naatanen, 2005; Schaufeli et al., 2002). School burnout can be assumed to be due to a lack of fit between the student's internal resources for schoolwork and his or her own expectations for success in school or those held by other people such as teachers, peers, and parents. Previous research in the work context has shown that burnout leads to many negative consequences such as absenteeism, poor health, and higher risk for depression (e.g., Toppinen-Tanner et al., 2005). The same might be assumed to hold for burnout at school, although only a few studies have been conducted in academic settings (Schaufeli, Martinez, Pinto, Salanova, & Bakker, 2002). The present study uses the concept of school burnout to examine adolescents' low well-being at school.
School burnout might be assumed to relate to many concepts that have been used previously to describe adolescents' school experiences. For example, the exhaustion dimension of school burnout comes close to academic stress (Murberg & Bru, 2004) and internal problem behavior (Nolen-Hoeksema & Girgus, 1994), cynicism and detached attitudes toward school resemble low learning motivation (Deci, Vallerand, Pelletier, & Ryan, 1991) and low task-value (Eccles, 1983), and feelings of incompetence at school has similarities with low academic self-concept (e.g., Harter, 1996; Saunders, Davis, Williams, & Williams, 2004). Although such similarities would suggest the use of the different subcomponents of school burnout as separate indicators, there are also reasons for using burnout as an overall scale. First, the different burnout dimensions have been found to be closely associated (e.g., Toppinen-Tanner et al., 2005). Second, it has been suggested that no single burnout factor alone can properly indicate the global nature of the concept. Third, Kalimo, Pahkin, Mutanen, and Toppinen-Tanner (2003) have suggested that it is difficult to draw unanimous conclusions on the causes of overall burnout on the basis of the separate correlates of exhaustion, cynicism, and lack of efficacy.
In the present study, two antecedents of school burnout were also investigated. First, because burnout has been assumed to be caused by work overload and lack of resources, we assumed that how well or badly adolescents are doing at school may be related to their school burnout (see also Schaufeli et al., 2002). Previous studies have shown, for example, that poor academic performance and academic failures are associated with psychological stress and negative affect (Cole et al., 1999; Crystal et al., 1994), low self-esteem (Harter, 1996; Masi et al., 2000), and subjective health complaints (Aro et al., 1987; Hurrelmann et al., 1992).
Second, because previous research has also shown gender differences in academic achievement and adjustment, gender was included as one antecedent of school burnout. For example, girls tend to perform better at school than boys (e.g., Dwyer & Johnson, 1997; Pomerantz, Altermatt, & Saxon, 2002) and to attribute greater importance to academic achievement compared to boys (Berndt & Miller, 1990; Murberg & Bru, 2004). However, girls have also been found to experience higher levels of stress (e.g., Ge, Lorenz, Conger, Elder, & Simons, 1994; Jose & Ratcliffe, 2004) and internalized symptoms (e.g., Hoffmann, Powlishta, & White, 2004; Nolen-Hoeksema & Girgus, 1994; Pomerantz et al., 2002).
Peer Group Influence and Selection
During their adolescent years, individuals begin to spend more time in peer groups (Brown 1990; Rubin et al., 1998). Through interactions with their peers, adolescents acquire a wide range of skills, attitudes, and experiences (Brown, 1990; Bukowski, Newcomb, & Hartup, 1996; Rubin et al., 1998). Previous research carried out on adolescents' peer groups suggests that peer interactions take place at multiple levels (Brown, 1990; Hinde, 1987; Rubin et al., 1998). Brown (1989), for example, described peer interactions as operating on three levels: dyads, cliques, and crowds. A dyad refers to a reciprocal relationship between two individuals. A clique consists of a small number of adolescents who hang around together and develop close relationships. Crowds, in turn, are reputation-based peer groups and larger collectives of similarly stereotyped individuals. Gender differences have also been found in peer group composition. For example, girls' peer groups are typically more intimate and tightly connected than those of boys (Benenson, 1990; Urberg, Degirmencioglu, Tolson, & Halliday-Scher, 1995).
Previous research has shown that the members of adolescents' peer groups resemble each other in many respects, such as propinquity, age, sex, and race (e.g., Cairns & Cairns, 1994); academic achievement and motivation (Chen et al., 2003; Ryan, 2001); internalizing distress (Hogue & Steinberg, 1995); and various external problem behaviors (Espelage et al., 2003; Kiesner, Poulin, & Nicotra, 2003; Urberg, Degirmencioglu, & Pilgrim, 1997). Similarity between peer group members has been explained by peer group influence and selection (e.g., Cairns & Cairns, 1994; Cohen, 1977; Ennett & Bauman, 1994). Peer group selection (cf. selective association) refers to the tendency of individuals to seek the company of like-minded peer groups. In turn, peer group influence (cf. reciprocal socialization) refers to the tendency of group members to shape and reinforce each other's shared attributes and behaviors over time. Urberg et al. (2003) presented a two-stage model of peer group processes in which the first phase is the acquisition of a peer group (i.e., peer group selection). By choosing to associate with a particular peer group, adolescents select a social context that exposes them to a particular set of values, behaviors, and opportunities. The second phase consists of the socialization process in which peer group members either conform or do not conform to each other's behavior.
The processes of peer group influence and selection can be separated only within longitudinal studies (e.g., Kandel, 1978). It has been proposed, on the one hand, that peer group influence operates if the behavior of a peer group at Time 1 predicts changes in adolescent behaviors between Times 1 and 2 (e.g., Degirmencioglu, Urberg, Tolson, & Richard, 1998). Peer influence, according to this definition, has been found to operate in adolescents' peer groups with respect to academic achievement and motivation (Kindermann et al., 1996; Ryan, 2001); smoking, drinking and, drug use (Cairns & Cairns, 1994; Ennett & Bauman, 1994; Urberg et al., 1997); aggressive behavior (Cairns & Cairns, 1994; Espelage et al., 2003); and internalizing distress (Hogue & Steinberg, 1995). Peer group influence has been explained by observational learning, identification, and conformity desires or pressures (Bandura, 1977; Berndt, 1999; Suls & Wheeler, 2000). In the present study we assumed that peer influence may contribute to peer group similarity in school burnout in many ways. For example, previous research has shown that the members of peer groups typically discuss important matters in their lives (Malmberg, 1996). Feelings and attitudes concerning school might be assumed to be among such experiences. In addition, adolescents may coruminate about their school-related stress and negative feelings in their peer groups. For example, Rose (2002) found that girls have a higher tendency to coruminate about their problems and negative feelings than boys and that corumination was related to high-quality close friendships as well as to depression and anxiety. Such corumination may then lead to higher levels of school burnout, including cynical attitudes toward school and a sense of inadequacy as a student. Also, peer group norms concerning the importance of academic achievement may contribute to peer group members' school burnout.
On the other hand, peer group selection can be inferred if individuals are similar to their new peer groups prior to group formation (e.g., Urberg, Degirmencioglu, & Tolson, 1998) or if they resemble their new peer group more than the group they left (e.g., Kandel, 1978). Evidence for peer group selection has been found for many characteristics such as age, gender, and ethnicity (Cairns & Cairns, 1994); academic achievement and motivation (Kindermann et al., 1996); smoking (Ennett & Bauman, 1994); and internalizing distress (Hogue & Steinberg, 1995). It has been suggested that the impact of peer group selection is based on shared interests and reciprocal liking (Brown, 1989; Urberg et al., 2003). In the present study we assumed that selection may play a role in peer group similarity in school burnout. For example, feelings of exhaustion, cynicism, and incompetence associated with school as well as enthusiasm, optimista, and competence are important attitudes that may play a role in the selection of peer groups. However, they may play an...
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