Reasons for disliking a classmate: A comparative study with Spanish and Portuguese students

Abstract

Socioemotional competence and peers’ social experiences have a mutually affecting relationship. Exploring students’ reasons for disliking a classmate within the classroom context has theoretical importance for peer interaction literature and practical importance for assisting teachers in building positive social environments. The goal of the study was to evaluate a system of categorization of reasons for disliking a classmate. For that, and in line with grounded theory, an enlarged heterogeneous sample of fourth and sixth grade Spanish and Portuguese students was used. Data collection was done through a sociometric task followed by a semi-structured interview (Spanish students) or by completing a questionnaire (Portuguese students). 1596 reasons provided by the Spanish students and 638 provide by the Portuguese students were analysed following the grounded theory procedure. Results showed that students tended to mention the same type of reasons; differences within groups relate to reasons’ salience. Implications are drawn for teaching practice and for exploring the effect of culture and school organization on students’ appreciation of each other.