The association between children's social-status within their peer-group and their prosociality was examined among fourth and sixth graders (N = 276), using sociometric nominations, and actual sharing with a fellow in-group member, or a member of an out-group. Results show an overall increase in sharing with age, and an overall correlation between…

This study investigated the role of school context in changes in the behaviors associated with having high social status during early adolescence. Three waves of surveys were collected from students (N = 542, 53% girls; 44% Black, 44% White, 5% Hispanic/Latinx, and 7% other; 60% free/reduced-fee lunch) in the middle of their sixth, seventh, and…

This study investigated how two aspects of the classroom environment (teachers' emphasis on mastery goals and descriptive norms (i.e., the average student disruptive, prosocial, and achievement-related behavior in a classroom), moderated the relationship between student behaviors and coolness. The sample included 976 students nested in 54 fifth-…

Perceptions of the ecology and middle school transition are examined in relation to interpersonal competence patterns (ICPs) of approximately 3,000 sixth graders (46.2% boys) including 415 students with disabilities from 26 metropolitan schools. Teacher ratings of students' academic competence, externalizing and internalizing behavior, popularity,…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how general education teachers of grades K-6 describe their experiences modeling social acceptance of students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. The overarching research question was as follows: How do general education teachers of grades K-6 describe their experiences…

This study examined how peer relationships (i.e., sociometric and perceived popularity) and teacher--child relationships (i.e., support and conflict) impact one another throughout late childhood. The sample included 586 children (46% boys), followed annually from Grades 4 to 6 (Mage.wave1 = 9.26 years). Autoregressive cross-lagged modeling was…

In this study, we sought to create and validate a brief measure to assess students' perceptions of kindness in school. Participants included 1,753 students in Grades 4 to 8 attending public schools in a large school district in southern British Columbia. The School Kindness Scale (SKS) demonstrated a unidimensional factor structure and adequate…

This study examined the association between ethnicity-related context variables and the prosocial behavior of early adolescents in ethnically/racially diverse schools. Specifically, youths' perceptions of greater representation of same-ethnic peers at school, school support for ethnic diversity, and engagement in and valuing cross-ethnic contact…

This study examined associations of communicative skills, social behavior, and personality with acceptance and popularity as a function of hearing status, gender, and educational setting. Participants were 87 deaf and 672 hearing early adolescents of 52 6th grade classrooms in mainstream and special education. Acceptance varied as a function of…

This study involved an examination of the role of perceived popularity and social dominance in the social behaviors used within early adolescents' (N = 387) friendship cliques. A status hierarchy between cliques within each grade (based on peer-rated perceived popularity) and a status hierarchy between individuals within each clique (based on…

Two studies investigated the proposition that social achievement goals (different orientations toward social competence) are an important aspect of young adolescents' social motivation. Study 1 (N = 153 6th-grade students) established that different orientations toward developing or demonstrating social competence can be seen in young adolescents'…

Behavioral descriptors were identified as variant or invariant predictors of perceived popularity in a sample of 516 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade children located in 26 majority-Black or majority-White classrooms. Athletic ability, prosocial behavior, being "cool", social withdrawal, and "personal privilege" (i.e., having a lot of expensive…

Elementary-school children in Cuba and Canada participated in measures of loneliness, sociometric status, friendship, aggression, and social withdrawal. Withdrawal was associated with loneliness in the Cuban data from both cohorts, Grade 4 and Grade 6. In the Canadian data, withdrawal was only linked to loneliness in Grade 6. In contrast with…