ERIC Number: EJ942193
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-May
Pages: 30
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0961-205X
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Available Date: N/A
They're Cool: Social Status and Peer Group Supports for Aggressive Boys and Girls
Rodkin, Philip C.; Farmer, Thomas W.; Pearl, Ruth; Van Acker, Richard
Social Development, v15 n2 p175-204 May 2006
This study examined who among the 526 fourth to sixth graders are nominated as among the coolest kids in their class. There were two questions: (1) Are popular-aggressive (tough) children nominated as cool by a broad spectrum of their peers, or only by a select few? (2) Does variability in children's cool nominations more closely follow their individual characteristics or group affiliations? Three-level hierarchical linear modeling (nominators in groups in classrooms) tested the study hypotheses. The main finding was that children in aggressive groups nominated tough peers as cool and children in nonaggressive groups nominated popular-nonaggressive (model) peers, regardless of nominators' individual characteristics or the prominence of their groups across diverse classroom contexts. Girls were proportionately more likely to nominate tough than model boys, but only a minority (less than 25 percent) of relatively aggressive girls nominated any boys as cool. Findings indicate that normative boy and girl peer cultures give broad reputational support to some aggressive children.
Descriptors: Individual Characteristics, Social Status, Aggression, Peer Acceptance, Peer Groups, Grade 6, Grade 5, Grade 4, Student Attitudes, Gender Differences, Elementary School Students
Wiley-Blackwell. 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148. Tel: 800-835-6770; Tel: 781-388-8598; Fax: 781-388-8232; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2429/WileyCDA/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 4; Grade 5; Grade 6
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A