Does enjoying friendship help or impede academic achievement? Academic and social intrinsic value profiles predict academic achievement

Abstract

We examine the intrinsic value students placed on schoolwork (i.e. academic intrinsic value) and social relationships (i.e. social intrinsic value). We then look at how these values predict middle and high school achievement. To do this, we came up with four profiles based on cluster analyses of 6,562 South Korean middle school students. The four are made up of students who are (1) high in both academic and social intrinsic values (Both-High), (2) high in academic and low in social intrinsic value (Academic), (3) low in academic and high in social intrinsic value (Social) and (4) low in both academic and social intrinsic values (Both-Low). For middle schoolers, the highest academic achievement scores belong to students fitting the Academic profile. For high schoolers, however, such scores belong to two profile groups - the Academic and Both-High profiles. The findings suggest that one component fundamentally important to academic achievement is academic intrinsic value.