The aim of this research was to study the dynamics of fourth graders’ perceived social support for schoolwork and to examine how this support contributes to their study engagement. Social support was hypothesised to be positively associated with higher levels of study engagement. Moreover, social support from teachers and guardians was hypothesised to be associated with social support for schoolwork among peers. Differences between genders were studied in relation to perceived social support and study engagement. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses with cross-sectional survey data from 2400 fourth grade students from Finland. They were 10 years of age on average. The results indicate that social support from teachers and among peers has stronger effects on study engagement compared to support from guardians. Moreover, it was found that social support from teachers and guardians is associated with the social support that students share among their peers. Girls were found to be more engaged in studying and to experience more social support from teachers and among peers compared to boys. The perceived social support from teachers was found to be partly determined by the class group to which the student belongs. These results suggest that by providing emotional and informational support for their students, teachers might be able to promote students’ study engagement, as well as such peer interaction that further enhances the students’ study engagement.

中文翻译：

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与学习投入相关的小学生感知社会支持

本研究的目的是研究四年级学生对学校作业的感知社会支持的动态，并研究这种支持如何促进他们的学习投入。假设社会支持与更高水平的学习参与呈正相关。此外，假设来自教师和监护人的社会支持与同龄人对学业的社会支持有关。研究了与感知到的社会支持和学习参与相关的性别差异。结构方程模型用于测试来自芬兰 2400 名四年级学生的横断面调查数据的假设。他们的平均年龄是 10 岁。结果表明，与监护人的支持相比，教师和同伴之间的社会支持对学习投入的影响更大。而且，研究发现，教师和监护人的社会支持与学生在同龄人之间分享的社会支持有关。与男孩相比，女孩被发现更专注于学习，并从老师和同龄人中获得更多的社会支持。发现教师感知到的社会支持部分取决于学生所属的班级群体。这些结果表明，通过为学生提供情感和信息支持，教师可能能够促进学生的学习投入，以及进一步提高学生学习投入的同伴互动。与男孩相比，女孩被发现更专注于学习，并从老师和同龄人中获得更多的社会支持。发现教师感知到的社会支持部分取决于学生所属的班级群体。这些结果表明，通过为学生提供情感和信息支持，教师可能能够促进学生的学习投入，以及进一步提高学生学习投入的同伴互动。与男孩相比，女孩被发现更专注于学习，并从老师和同龄人中获得更多的社会支持。发现教师感知到的社会支持部分取决于学生所属的班级群体。这些结果表明，通过为学生提供情感和信息支持，教师可能能够促进学生的学习投入，以及进一步提高学生学习投入的同伴互动。