Pupils from poor households are less likely to be chosen as friends
Published: Thursday, Jan 25th 2024, 12:00
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Young people from poor families have fewer friends than their financially better-off schoolmates. This was shown by researchers from the Universities of Zurich and Stockholm in a new study.
The research team analyzed data from 4787 Swedish young people aged 14 and 15 in 235 school classes for the study published in the journal "Social Networks", as announced by the University of Zurich (UZH) on Thursday. The researchers defined families in the bottom 20 percent of the income scale in Sweden as poor.
"We were surprised to find that parental income plays a role even within low-income groups. This could mean that social status with corresponding attributes such as fashionable clothing or trendy leisure activities is important when forming a friendship," said lead author Isabel Raabe from UZH, according to the press release.
According to the researchers, another explanation for the difference could be that poor young people have less money available for sports or hobbies and are therefore less able to make additional contacts outside of school. In addition, young people from low-income families could suffer from economic and family-related psychosocial stress, which affects their behavior and makes them less attractive as friends.
Amplifying effect
However, the friendship gap cannot be completely explained by the income differences between parents, said Raab. There must be mechanisms that reinforce the existing differences.
According to Raab, one such mechanism could be that people tend to make friends with their friends' friends. Each friendship therefore potentially generates further friendships. In this way, initially small differences in the number of friendships could increase, explained Raab.
The researchers recommend counteracting these tendencies and creating more opportunities in schools to build new friendships. For example, through a mixed seating arrangement or through inter-class afternoon activities.
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