Gender Differences in Classroom Sympathy and Antipathy: A Digital Sociometric Study
Socioemotional relationships significantly influence students’ learning, development, and school well-being. This study explored gender differences in sympathy and antipathy based on data originally gathered via a digital platform primarily designed for mathematical learning. The platform administer...
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MDPI AG
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Education Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/7/830 |
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| author | Eliacim Mella-Defranchi Roberto Araya |
| author_facet | Eliacim Mella-Defranchi Roberto Araya |
| author_sort | Eliacim Mella-Defranchi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Socioemotional relationships significantly influence students’ learning, development, and school well-being. This study explored gender differences in sympathy and antipathy based on data originally gathered via a digital platform primarily designed for mathematical learning. The platform administered a sociometric test to a large sample (3090 of fourth-grade students (mean age = 10.19 years, 47.7% girls) in the Chilean Metropolitan Region. Teachers facilitated the test, allowing students to nominate peers they liked and disliked. The study confirmed a trend of homophily in sympathy, with students preferring same-gender peers. It also revealed a gender disparity in antipathy: girls nominated an average of 5.27 disliked classmates (<i>SD</i> = 7.20), 1.45 more nominations than boys, with a Cohen’s <i>d</i> of 0.22. These findings provide insights to enhance school climate and address the mental health implications of social exclusion, considering gender differences. These results underscore the potential of scalable digital tools to support educators in monitoring peer dynamics and fostering inclusive, emotionally supportive school environments. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d4d94a987ce84caa8d79d1755642bd68 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2227-7102 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-d4d94a987ce84caa8d79d1755642bd682025-08-20T03:58:26ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022025-07-0115783010.3390/educsci15070830Gender Differences in Classroom Sympathy and Antipathy: A Digital Sociometric StudyEliacim Mella-Defranchi0Roberto Araya1Centro de Investigación Avanzada en Educación, Instituto de Educación, Universidad de Chile, Santiago 8330014, ChileCentro de Investigación Avanzada en Educación, Instituto de Educación, Universidad de Chile, Santiago 8330014, ChileSocioemotional relationships significantly influence students’ learning, development, and school well-being. This study explored gender differences in sympathy and antipathy based on data originally gathered via a digital platform primarily designed for mathematical learning. The platform administered a sociometric test to a large sample (3090 of fourth-grade students (mean age = 10.19 years, 47.7% girls) in the Chilean Metropolitan Region. Teachers facilitated the test, allowing students to nominate peers they liked and disliked. The study confirmed a trend of homophily in sympathy, with students preferring same-gender peers. It also revealed a gender disparity in antipathy: girls nominated an average of 5.27 disliked classmates (<i>SD</i> = 7.20), 1.45 more nominations than boys, with a Cohen’s <i>d</i> of 0.22. These findings provide insights to enhance school climate and address the mental health implications of social exclusion, considering gender differences. These results underscore the potential of scalable digital tools to support educators in monitoring peer dynamics and fostering inclusive, emotionally supportive school environments.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/7/830socioemotional relationshipsschool well-beingantipathysympathygender differences |
| spellingShingle | Eliacim Mella-Defranchi Roberto Araya Gender Differences in Classroom Sympathy and Antipathy: A Digital Sociometric Study Education Sciences socioemotional relationships school well-being antipathy sympathy gender differences |
| title | Gender Differences in Classroom Sympathy and Antipathy: A Digital Sociometric Study |
| title_full | Gender Differences in Classroom Sympathy and Antipathy: A Digital Sociometric Study |
| title_fullStr | Gender Differences in Classroom Sympathy and Antipathy: A Digital Sociometric Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gender Differences in Classroom Sympathy and Antipathy: A Digital Sociometric Study |
| title_short | Gender Differences in Classroom Sympathy and Antipathy: A Digital Sociometric Study |
| title_sort | gender differences in classroom sympathy and antipathy a digital sociometric study |
| topic | socioemotional relationships school well-being antipathy sympathy gender differences |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/7/830 |
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