More Friends, Better Grades: Study

The key to maintaining a fighting GPA? Friends.

So says a recent study by UCLA professor Andrew J. Fuligni and his former graduate student Melissa R. Witkow. According to their survey of more than 600 high school seniors in the Los Angeles area, in-school friends buoy each other to better grades.

Science Daily has more:

"We found that within an adolescent's friendship group, those with a higher proportion of friends who attended the same school received higher grades," said Witkow, now an assistant professor of psychology at Willamette University. "This is partially because in-school friends are more likely to be achievement-oriented and share and support school-related activities, including studying, because they are all in the same environment."

The results did not change across gender or race. Witkow stressed that the importance of out-of-school friendships should not be demeaned and that those relationships may well be paramount to a child's success as well.

What do you think? Have social relationships helped you in school? Leave a comment below.