Academic Support From Peers as a Predictor of Academic Self-Efficacy Among College Students

Abstract

Prior theory and research indicate that psychosocial contextual factors—including students’ ability to establish and maintain satisfying relationships and interactions with peers—can play an important role in predicting college students’ academic performance and persistence. The current study contributes to this literature by examining the mechanisms by which college students come to feel academically supported by peers and the consequences of these perceptions for college students’ academic self-efficacy. Findings indicate that friends’ responses to college students’ disclosures of everyday academic challenges and successes contribute to more general perceptions of peer academic support. Perceptions of peer academic support are, in turn, a predictor of higher academic self-efficacy. The implications of these findings for programs designed to enhance college students’ academic performance and persistence are discussed.