CHAPTER III

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter provides a description of the participants’ stories and research findings

about the feelings felt of an individual who belong in a peer group. The themes that emerged

from the interpretation of the data are discussed to further understand the roles of peer in

learning. The data presented as a description of what was communicated within the context of

the research. Direct statements are used to illustrate the common experiences and themes

emerge. In order to maintain anonymity, the researchers gave code names to each participant.

The purposive sample consisted of five (5) students who belong in the same group

within the age sixteen (16) to seventeen (17) years old. All of the students who belong in a

peer group who were engaged in the time of the study were requested to participate.

We scheduled the interview of the participants for the research study at Saint Louis

College. Each participant for the interview was visited by a member of the group. All of the

participants gave their consent to be interviewed about their how them as an individual. The

participants had several things in common. Most of them said that their peer serves as their

motivation or inspiration.

The taped interviews were transcribed. Meanings were formulated for each significant

statement.

The Feeling of a Student Who Belong in a Group

Sense of Belongingness

With the presence of their peers, its members feel happiness because they belong to

their respective circle of friends.

“It felt flattering because they welcomed me in their group” (Eva)

 “I'm so happy because they're always there for me” (Celine)

“I'm comfortable with them, I'm so happy that’s why sometimes I forget my

problems” (Sena)

“I'm happy because I never been felt that I'm alone, and I know that my friends are

ready to listen about my problems” (Anna)

“I feel happy because they are my friends” (Cole)

Sense of Togetherness

Peer groups tend to bond together which strengthens their ties with one another.

“Going out, sharing stories and doing happy things without shame” (Eva)

“We're telling each other stories, eating together and making noise. We are noisy and

always show them the truth about me” (Celine)

“We're telling each other problems and happy moments and we're more on bonding”

(Sena)

"Chikahan session and eating out there” (Anna)

“Endless laughter together and being shameless” (Cole)

Roles of Peers in an Student’s Life

Source of Motivation

Members of a peer group serve as role models and helper in their daily life which

helps them on the things they lack off.

“They are my inspiration and motivation” (Sena)

 “They motivate me, for example there is an upcoming summative test and I do not

want to review, they will tell me to go and review” (Cole)

“They motivate me and they give me ideas and they push me to study hard” (Celine)

“There is a big impact of friends to me specially on academics because they bring out

the best in me ...they push me to be the best” “Well, they are my inspiration” (Eva)

“For me I consider them as my inspiration because there are times where I feel

challenged to have high scores like them, that is why they are my inspiration.” (Anna)

Agent of Development

Through the encouragement of peers to accomplish things, conformity on it follows

which will lead to progress.

. “They are the one who gives me guidance. They also enlighten me to do best in my

studies and they are also helping me to have a higher grade” (Cole)

“They affect my perception in studying because we all have goals. We help each

other to be better and to achieve our goals.” (Anna)

“...they are the ones who gives advices if I do and had done something wrong, they

help me to correct it...” (Celine)

“They support me in things I do especially when it is good.”(Eva)

“… they affect my decisions by encouraging me to do what is right” (Sena)

Discussion

It is showed that peer groups contribute to the life of its members in different aspects.

The members of it can render the feeling of belongingness, sense of togetherness, becomes a

source of motivation and an agent of development with one another which molds them to be
better. Patti Richards (2015) stated that teens need to feel a sense of belonging to feel good

about who they are. Teens gain much of their identity from the people they spend time with,

because these people often reflect similar interests and beliefs. Whether peer groups are

found in academic or religious circles or within the teen's community, positive groups will

help build healthy emotional and psychological development through a strong sense of

belonging.

The Feeling of a Student Who Belong in a Group

Sense of Belongingness

This finding of the study states that surrounding oneself to peers can have a positive

outcome and that is it makes every member to feel comfortable and be genuinely happy. A

student feels the sense of belongingness if peer accepted them in a group. Those who belong

in a group feel happy and comfortable because they have friends which can be their

companion in everything. Moreover, through the presence of peers in life, an individual does

not feel lonely and they have that feeling of security where members feel included, accepted,

related, fit in, conformed and subscribed, which enhances their well-being with the feeling of

home. According to the study of Hamm and Zhang (2010), peers provide companionship

entertainment and feeling of belongingness, health personal validation and emotional support.

Having sense of belonging allows us to navigate through life without feeling alone. Knowing

that someone else has experienced similar troubles can provide us with the support and

confidence. Furthermore, according to Viki (2011) a sense of belongingness leads a person to

have an increased self esteem: confidence, optimism, pride, and resilience. It adds to the

happiness of a person’s life and creates for them a sense of purpose, fulfilment, self respect

and self worth. Feeling respected and accepted comes from belonging. This provides simple

points: belonging leads to happiness, not belonging leads to unhappiness.

Sense of Togetherness
 Through the presence of peers, an individual can present themselves comfortably

without being judge. The daily interaction of peers led its members to feel at ease and with

that they can freely voice out their ideas, rants and opinions. Also, they can act different

from the normal context such as laughing hard, making noise and being shameless without

hesitation whenever they are with their peers just like what the respondents answered. In

addition, through the sense of togetherness a feeling of importance is garnered which brings

out the commitment to be together until the end of time. Bandura (2003) noted that through

observing and imitating the behaviour of others, individuals can come close to reproducing

the behaviours of the members and they can act the way they want to each other. The

interaction among peers contribute to the feeling of comfort which enables them to reveal

their identity fully letting peers lead to do the things they like the most whereas self

expression is valued through roles of expression in preference judgment and with that

stronger relationship among peers is achieved. Lastly, manifesting the sense of togetherness

entails acceptance of peers in a group which results to a feeling of tranquillity.

Source of Motivation

The results from the data we gathered throughout the process of our research states

that the presence of peers around a student affects their performance academically because

they treat their peers as their motivation and inspiration for them to bring the best out of

themselves. According to National Assessment of Educational Progress (1998), presence of

peer has a particularly strong influence in academic achievement. It is proven by one of the

respondents in which she told that she is influenced by her peers because she adopted the

ways on how her peers study. A person may not be that bright but if he or she is well

monitored and he falls into a group of brilliant students, that individual imitates them and this

changes his or her attitude towards learning for better.

 Peers can have a big impact to an individual’s life because they can easily adopt their

behaviours from people that surround them. One of our respondent told that she adopts the

ways on how her friends review and how her friends act. Blake and Davids (1997)

Wattenberg (1998) also viewed that peer group is a potent force which wields great influence,

especially in the school setting support the view that a peer group come into being because its

members have common goals, interests and motivations. One of our respondents said that she

enjoys learning when she is with them because they motivate each other to be able to have

better grades. They tell each other’s stories about their conditions in life where it gives them

the motivations in life they need to be able to be successful.

Agent of Development

An individual’s peer group serve as an Agent of Development. The peer of students

affects their decision in life especially in academics by helping each other to be a good

student so that they will reach their ambition in life. They never let someone in the group be

left behind. As a result they help each other by doing everything they can just to cope

together. The peer group also influences development of children’s socializing skills. These

early friendships help children learn how to negotiate and relate to others, including their

siblings and other family members. They learn from peers how to cooperate and socialize

according to group norms and group-sanctioned modes of behavior. The peer group can

influence what the child values, knows, wears, eats, and learns. The extent of this influence,

however, depends on other situational constraints, such as the age and personality of children

and the nature of the group (Harris, 1998; Hartup, 1983). Moreover, peers impact a child’s

cognitive development in many diverse ways. When children learn cooperatively through

partner or group activities, they share interests, ideas and perspectives. Children who interact

with each other through different learning and recreational activities are also encouraged to

develop creative, problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills. Encourage children to join

different extracurricular activities and clubs to diversify experiences and encounters with

friends. Development of an individual may come from peer. Mostly peer are the one who

encourages the member of the group resulting to have a development.