Experts say assigned seating in class could create unlikely friendships. 

Who a child sits next to in class has a significant impact on who they will become friends with even if their desk buddy is quite different to them, according to international research. 

In a recent study, a group of Hungarian schools randomly assigned seating for their primary school aged students for a semester, then recorded information on their friendships. 

Researchers found students were 15 to 22 per cent more likely to become friends if they had sat near each other for the semester. 

It also found that while children who were similar to one another in educational achievement, ethnicity and especially gender were more likely to become friends, assigned seating still had a significant impact on the likelihood of a child making a friend who was different in some way to them.

Overall, the findings suggest that seating assignments could be effective tools in promoting diverse friendships, which could help foster social skills and improve attitudes about those in other demographic groups.

“Friendships matter, for better or worse,” says senior author Dr Felix Elwert.

“Having friends improves happiness and health; but friendship networks also divide people, because humans mostly befriend others that are just like them. 

“Importantly, we found that sitting next to each other increased friendship potential for all children, regardless of their gender, class, or ethnic background. 

“This demonstrates that simple (‘light-touch’) interventions can effectively diversify friendship networks.”

The research suggested that the biggest barriers to two children becoming friends are gender and ethnic differences. In many cases, these differences were not overcome by seating proximity. 

“Although teachers have a full control over arranging the classroom seating chart, inducing friendship by seating chart arrangement is an overlooked policy lever,” says co-author Dr Tamás Keller.

“Our research has highlighted two specific boundaries: gender and ethnic differences. 

“Students in early adolescence make friendships with the same sex peers—a feature that is difficult to change with light-touch seating chart interventions. 

“Similarly, the goal to establish inter-ethnic friendship ties might require more intensive interventions.”

The study is accessible here.