Study 1
The goal of this study was to examine the association between children’s classroom seating and
peer status. Previous studies have primarily examined the association between classroom seating
and academic functioning (e.g., MacAulay, 2006). Some studies have examined the impact of classroom
seating on children’s social functioning, focusing mainly on likeability (e.g., Babad & Ezer,
1993). These studies focused on seating location (front vs. back of the classroom) instead of the interpersonal
distance between students as a result of teacher-determined seating arrangements. Therefore,
we examined the following research questions in Study 1:
1. Is children’s average physical distance to classmates in the teacher-determined classroom
seating arrangement associated with likeability and popularity?
2. Is children’s physical distance to specific classmates associated with liking and popularity?
It was expected that children who sit closer to the borders of the classroom (i.e., sit farther away
from their classmates) will be less liked than children who sit closer to the center (Babad & Ezer,
1993). Moreover, it was expected that children who sit closer to each other will like each other more
(van den Berg et al., 2012). Due to the relative absence of prior studies on peer perceptions of popularity
and interpersonal distance, and the opposing hypotheses that can be formed, the examination of
this association was exploratory.