Existing literature has mostly explained the occurrence of bullying victimization by individual socioemotional maladjustment. Instead, this study tested the person-group dissimilarity model (Wright et al., "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology," 50: 523-536, 1986) by examining whether individuals' deviation from developmentally…

Students' sense of belonging impacts their affect, motivation, well-being, and academic success. Sense of belonging is considered context-dependent as what determines one's belonging differs across contexts. This study explores how sense of belonging manifests among post-secondary, introductory chemistry students. This context is important given…

One main argument for inclusion refers to the social benefits that students with SEN might have from being in contact with typically developing classmates. Students' sense of belonging to the classroom is also a relevant dimension of inclusion, given its importance for positive emotional and social development and academic motivation. Yet, studies…

Business schools have significantly increased the percentage of teaching-focused faculty (defined here as full-time faculty with doctorates not on the tenure track) over the last decades. However, many schools have not adequately updated their policies to support these faculty, leading some teaching-focused faculty to feel like second-class…

Longitudinal associations between popularity, peer acceptance, and academic performance were examined in Chinese 7th (n = 880; 400 girls; M[subscript age = 13.33, SD = 0.64) and 10th grade (n = 646; 342 girls; M[subscript age] = 16.76, SD = 0.75) adolescents across three academic years. Growth curve analysis revealed parallel changes in popularity…

Ostracism and dark triad personality traits have been found to be linked with social media addiction. Despite the well-established relationship between the dark triad (i.e., narcissism, machiavellianism, and psychopathy) and social media addiction, there is limited research on their mediating effect. In the present study, we tested a hypothetical…

Girls are consistently found to have higher literacy levels than their male peers and to consume more social narrative fiction. This study conducted interviews with four autistic girls to better understand how reading fiction can inform the camouflaging behaviours of autistic girls. Participants described how imitating characters embodying desired…

Students minoritised because of their race and/or ethnicity have a different university experience from their peers, which is reflected in degree completion statistics, awarding gaps, and graduate outcomes. One factor influencing these outcomes is students' sense of inclusion and belonging with the university, which is lower in minoritised…

Research shows that peer relationships are associated with students' school adjustment. However, the importance of advantageous and disadvantageous factors for students' educational outcomes may vary by socioeconomic positioning. Drawing on sociometric and register data from a nationally representative sample of Swedish youth (n = 4996, girls 50%;…

We explored factors predicting repeated or hazardous alcohol use among autistic and non-autistic U.S. youth ages 16 to 20 years. Autistic (n = 94) and non-autistic (n = 92) youth completed an online survey. By design, half of each group reported past-year alcohol use. We compared drinking patterns for autistic and non-autistic youth, and within…

The link between peer exposure and self-regulation is likely to vary as a function of the type and quality of peer interaction. In the presented research study, the relationship between self-regulation and peer acceptance/rejection has been explored. The Means-Ends Problem Solving technique was administered in 1625 cases of lower-secondary school…

This research examined the serial mediating effect of interaction anxiety and insight into the relationship between self-esteem and approval dependence in university students. The research group comprised 511 volunteer university students, of whom 78,7% were females and 21,3% were males. Research data was collected via "The Two-Dimensional…

The current study examined school variations in academic engagement norms and whether such norms affect those most susceptible to peer influence. We presumed that behaviors associated with perceived popularity make norms salient and are most likely to affect socially marginalized (rejected) youth. Focusing on differences across 26 middle schools,…

The present study sought to investigate the friendship formation of ethnic in-and out-group friendships, as well as differences in stability and quality, while accounting for the network structure (such as the tendency to befriend friends of friends). We analyzed longitudinal data from 770 students from 42 Austrian primary school classes collected…

Constructing school spaces where Black girls feel comfortable enough to be their full selves is essential in a system that consistently shows them that they do not matter. Cultivating these spaces, however, requires educators to understand that Black girls' identities are multiple and varied, that Black girls can be anything. Still, some identity…