In adolescence, being rejected by one's peers is positively associated with aggression. However, whether self-perceptions of being rejected or accepted by peers, and biases in these perceptions, are linked to aggression remains unclear, as the literature points to 2 perspectives: Youth are more likely to be aggressive when they (a) know or believe…

Associations between social norms and bullying bystander behaviours have been studied extensively over the years, but the mechanisms by which subjective norms influence bystander behaviours remain unclear. This study is the first to examine whether bystander popularity moderates the association between perceived peer pressure for intervention and…

We examined the impact of adolescents' popularity motivations on their involvement in relational aggression perpetration and victimization, heavy drinking, and antiauthority behavior, while also considering the role of teens' perception of their own popularity and psychosocial adjustment. High school students (N = 986; 50% female; M[subscript age]…

Little is known about how adolescents' peer relations might alter whether sport participation is associated with alcohol use. Consistent with social learning theory, we found that sport participation was protective against alcohol use if these peers had low alcohol use, but athletes were likely to use alcohol if their sport friends and teammates…

The codevelopment of delinquent behaviors and depressive symptoms from Grade 9 to 11 was investigated on an Italian sample of 518 adolescents (399 male) after the transition to high school, evaluating the time-invariant effects of past school failure and social failure and the time-varying effects of school achievement and social problems.…

Adolescents with unusually sized or shaped bodies may experience ridicule, rejection, or exclusion based on their negatively valued bodily characteristics. Such experiences can have negative consequences for a person's image and evaluation of self. This study focuses on the relationship between bodily deviations and body image and is based on a…

This study developed and tested a new model of the forced choice dilemma (i.e., the belief held by some intellectually gifted students that they must choose between academic achievement and peer acceptance) that incorporates individual-level cultural orientation variables (i.e., vertical allocentrism and vertical idiocentrism). A survey that had…

Depressive symptoms in Latino youth have been related to both culturally-universal and culturally-based stressors. However, few studies have examined the unique contributions of culturally-based stressors above and beyond other types of stressors. Moreover, no past studies with Latinos have examined the role of culturally-based stressors within a…

Studies with adults of social dominance orientation (SDO), a preference for inequality among social groups, have found correlations with various prejudices and support for discriminatory practices. This study explores the construct among adolescents at an age when they are beginning to recognize the social groups in their environment, particularly…

This project examines the adjustment sequelae of perceived popularity beyond high school, and the moderating role of relational aggression (RA) in this process. Yearly sociometric measures of popularity and RA were gathered across grades 9-12 for a sample of 264 adolescents in a lower-middle-class high school. In addition, data on post-high school…

Evolutionary and biological approaches tend to suggest that social dominance is predominately an aspect of male social organization. Furthermore, when females behave non-normatively, they are less positively evaluated than males engaging in the same behavior. Alternate, less familiar models of females and dominance/aggression underlie the present…

Young people excluded from school are a group at an increased risk of drug use and antisocial behaviour during adolescence and later marginalisation and exclusion from society in adulthood. As part of the Belfast Youth Development Study, a longitudinal study of the onset and development of adolescent drug use, young people who entered post-primary…