Thomas A Kindermann
Biographic Data
| ID | 5758209 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Thomas A Kindermann |
| GIVEN NAMES | Thomas A |
| FAMILY NAME | Kindermann |
| SIGNATURE | KINDERMANN T A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Portland State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4546-9649 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 91 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 11 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1993 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Seeking support or concealing? A longitudinal study of adolescents’ friendships, peer victimization, depression, and coping with peer relationship stressors
Friends are often a source of emotional and informational support, which suggests that friends can directly assist adolescents to more effectively cope with stressful experiences, reducing emotional distress. In this longitudinal study, we examined the direct impact of friendship on adolescents' use of help seeking, comfort seeking, concealment, and rumination to cope with peer stressors. We used path modeling with two waves of data to consider t…
A comparison of dyadic and social network assessments of peer influence
The present study compares two methods for assessing peer influence: the longitudinal actor–partner interdependence model (L-APIM) and the longitudinal social network analysis (L-SNA) Model. The data were drawn from 1,995 (49% girls and 51% boys) third grade students ( M age = 9.68 years). From this sample, L-APIM ( n = 206 indistinguishable dyads and n = 187 distinguishable dyads) and L-SNA ( n = 1,024 total network members) subsamples were crea…
“I get knocked down but I get up again”
Many subareas share a common interest in students’ motivational resilience, defined broadly as patterns of action that allow students to constructively deal with, overcome, recover, and learn from encounters with academic obstacles and failures. However, research in each of these areas often progresses in relative isolation, and studies rarely utilize developmental or social-contextual approaches. As a result, we do not yet have a clear understan…
Is psychology suffering from an epidemic of “contagion”? Moving from metaphors to theoretically derived concepts and methods in the study of social influences
The term “contagion” has become increasingly popular as an omnibus catch-all to depict all kinds of mutual influences between people of equal status (or “peers”). We argue that some of these influences may qualify as “contagion,” but others denote alternative processes better described, for example, as exchange, transactions, or diffusion. To transform the term contagion from a loose metaphor to a precise and empirically useful concept, we propos…
In peer matters, teachers matter
This study focused on the joint effects of teachers and peer groups as predictors of change in students’ engagement during the first year of middle school, when the importance of peer relationships normatively increases and the quality of teacher–student relationships typically declines. To explore cumulative and contextualized joint effects, the study utilized 3 sources of information about an entire cohort of 366 sixth graders in a small town: …
A Motivational Perspective on Engagement and Disaffection
This article presents a motivational conceptualization of engagement and disaffection: First, it emphasizes children's constructive, focused, enthusiastic participation in the activities of classroom learning; second, it distinguishes engagement from disaffection, as well as behavioral features from emotional features. Psychometric properties of scores from teacher and student reports of behavioral engagement, emotional engagement, behavioral dis…
How Do Naturally Existing Peer Groups Shape Children's Academic Development During Sixth Grade
This study examined whether peer groups can indirectly affect children's academic development in sixth grade (ages 11 to 13) by influencing their engagement in the classroom. From the entire cohort of 366 sixth graders in a town, 87% provided informa
Engagement and disaffection in the classroom
A study of 805 4th through 7th graders used a model of motivational development to guide the investigation of the internal dynamics of 4 indicators of behavioral and emotional engagement and disaffection and the facilitative effects of teacher support and 3 student self-perceptions (competence, autonomy, and relatedness) on changes in these indicators over the school year. In terms of internal dynamics, emotional components of engagement contribu…
Effects of Naturally Existing Peer Groups on Changes in Academic Engagement in a Cohort of Sixth Graders
This study examined the effects of peer groups on changes in academic engagement in 11- to 13-year-old children. From the entire cohort of 366 sixth graders in a town, 87% participated at the beginning and end of the school year. Peer groups were assessed using socio-cognitive mapping; as an indicator of motivation, teachers reported on students’ classroom engagement. Peer groups were homogeneous in terms of engagement, and despite considerable m…
Strategies for the Study of Individual Development within Naturally‐Existing Peer Groups
The investigation of peer influences on children's development in natural settings rests squarely on appropriate methods to identify those individuals who are influential for a given child. Traditional methods of sociometric ratings or assessments of friendship choices are not intended to identify reciprocal influences in children's peer groups of social interrelationships. In the study of networks within sociology, researchers have focused on th…
Natural peer groups as contexts for individual development
This study examined the role of natural peer-group selection and socialization processes in children's school motivation. At the beginning of the school year, self- and teacher reports of classroom engagement were obtained for 109 students in 2 4th- and 2 5th-grade classrooms. On the basis of interviews with 57 students, composite maps of the social networks in these classrooms were constructed, which were found to be reliable across repoters and…
Natural peer groups as contexts for individual development
This study examined the role of natural peer-group selection and socialization processes in children's school motivation. At the beginning of the school year, self- and teacher reports of classroom engagement were obtained for 109 students in 2 4th- and 2 5th-grade classrooms. On the basis of interviews with 57 students, composite maps of the social networks in these classrooms were constructed, which were found to be reliable across repoters and…
Strategies for the Study of Individual Development within Naturally‐Existing Peer Groups
The investigation of peer influences on children's development in natural settings rests squarely on appropriate methods to identify those individuals who are influential for a given child. Traditional methods of sociometric ratings or assessments of friendship choices are not intended to identify reciprocal influences in children's peer groups of social interrelationships. In the study of networks within sociology, researchers have focused on th…
Natural peer groups as contexts for individual development
This study examined the role of natural peer-group selection and socialization processes in children's school motivation. At the beginning of the school year, self- and teacher reports of classroom engagement were obtained for 109 students in 2 4th- and 2 5th-grade classrooms. On the basis of interviews with 57 students, composite maps of the social networks in these classrooms were constructed, which were found to be reliable across repoters and…
Strategies for the Study of Individual Development within Naturally‐Existing Peer Groups
The investigation of peer influences on children's development in natural settings rests squarely on appropriate methods to identify those individuals who are influential for a given child. Traditional methods of sociometric ratings or assessments of friendship choices are not intended to identify reciprocal influences in children's peer groups of social interrelationships. In the study of networks within sociology, researchers have focused on th…
Effects of Naturally Existing Peer Groups on Changes in Academic Engagement in a Cohort of Sixth Graders
This study examined the effects of peer groups on changes in academic engagement in 11- to 13-year-old children. From the entire cohort of 366 sixth graders in a town, 87% participated at the beginning and end of the school year. Peer groups were assessed using socio-cognitive mapping; as an indicator of motivation, teachers reported on students’ classroom engagement. Peer groups were homogeneous in terms of engagement, and despite considerable m…
Engagement and disaffection in the classroom
A study of 805 4th through 7th graders used a model of motivational development to guide the investigation of the internal dynamics of 4 indicators of behavioral and emotional engagement and disaffection and the facilitative effects of teacher support and 3 student self-perceptions (competence, autonomy, and relatedness) on changes in these indicators over the school year. In terms of internal dynamics, emotional components of engagement contribu…
A Motivational Perspective on Engagement and Disaffection
This article presents a motivational conceptualization of engagement and disaffection: First, it emphasizes children's constructive, focused, enthusiastic participation in the activities of classroom learning; second, it distinguishes engagement from disaffection, as well as behavioral features from emotional features. Psychometric properties of scores from teacher and student reports of behavioral engagement, emotional engagement, behavioral dis…
How Do Naturally Existing Peer Groups Shape Children's Academic Development During Sixth Grade
This study examined whether peer groups can indirectly affect children's academic development in sixth grade (ages 11 to 13) by influencing their engagement in the classroom. From the entire cohort of 366 sixth graders in a town, 87% provided informa
In peer matters, teachers matter
This study focused on the joint effects of teachers and peer groups as predictors of change in students’ engagement during the first year of middle school, when the importance of peer relationships normatively increases and the quality of teacher–student relationships typically declines. To explore cumulative and contextualized joint effects, the study utilized 3 sources of information about an entire cohort of 366 sixth graders in a small town: …
Is psychology suffering from an epidemic of “contagion”? Moving from metaphors to theoretically derived concepts and methods in the study of social influences
The term “contagion” has become increasingly popular as an omnibus catch-all to depict all kinds of mutual influences between people of equal status (or “peers”). We argue that some of these influences may qualify as “contagion,” but others denote alternative processes better described, for example, as exchange, transactions, or diffusion. To transform the term contagion from a loose metaphor to a precise and empirically useful concept, we propos…
“I get knocked down but I get up again”
Many subareas share a common interest in students’ motivational resilience, defined broadly as patterns of action that allow students to constructively deal with, overcome, recover, and learn from encounters with academic obstacles and failures. However, research in each of these areas often progresses in relative isolation, and studies rarely utilize developmental or social-contextual approaches. As a result, we do not yet have a clear understan…
A comparison of dyadic and social network assessments of peer influence
The present study compares two methods for assessing peer influence: the longitudinal actor–partner interdependence model (L-APIM) and the longitudinal social network analysis (L-SNA) Model. The data were drawn from 1,995 (49% girls and 51% boys) third grade students ( M age = 9.68 years). From this sample, L-APIM ( n = 206 indistinguishable dyads and n = 187 distinguishable dyads) and L-SNA ( n = 1,024 total network members) subsamples were crea…
Seeking support or concealing? A longitudinal study of adolescents’ friendships, peer victimization, depression, and coping with peer relationship stressors
Friends are often a source of emotional and informational support, which suggests that friends can directly assist adolescents to more effectively cope with stressful experiences, reducing emotional distress. In this longitudinal study, we examined the direct impact of friendship on adolescents' use of help seeking, comfort seeking, concealment, and rumination to cope with peer stressors. We used path modeling with two waves of data to consider t…
Psychology (10 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Developmental psychology (8 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (6 works) · Mathematics education (6 works) · Parental Involvement in Education (6 works) · Peer group (6 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (3 works) · Cognitive psychology (3 works) · Youth Development and Social Support (3 works)