Although considerable research exists on the behavioral characteristics of low-accepted children, few studies have examined gender differences in the types of behavior which distinguish between low-accepted children and their better-accepted classmates. This study examined the relative power, for each gender, of different behavioral characteristics in discriminating low-accepted children from their better-accepted peers. It also examined the role of prosocial behavior in distinguishing children in behavioral subgroups of low-accepted children from medium-accepted children and extended the research on subgroups by considering other behaviors that might characterize each low-accepted subgroup. Third- through fifth-graders (N=881) in five elementary schools in a middle-size midwestern community completed a sociometric rating scale in which they rated how much they liked to play with each of their classmates. Subjects also completed a peer nomination measure on which they nominated classmates who fit each of 19 behavioral descriptions. The results indicated that in comparing children of varying levels of acceptance, the same behaviors were important for boys and girls, with a few behaviors seeming to be more salient for boys. The most powerful discriminator between children in the low-accepted group and their classmates, regardless of gender, was the lack of prosocial behavior. When the low-accepted children were subclassified according to aggressive versus withdrawn behavior and compared with matched classmates of average acceptance, both aggressive and withdrawn low-accepted children received lower peer ratings for prosocial behavior. (NB)