Witnessing peer victimization is an emotionally salient event, particularly for youth. Given that emotions influence how youth respond to social situations, the emotional experiences of bystanders may influence how they respond to peer victimization. In particular, different defending behaviors may be motivated by different emotional processes…

Previous studies have shown that social exclusion can have negative effects on the well-being of children and adolescents. However, there is inconsistent evidence regarding how the impact of social exclusion changes with age. This study used the Cyberball paradigm to investigate the effects of exclusion and subsequent inclusion on primary needs…

Sense of belonging is a fundamental human need that can raise the chances of self-actualization and academic success in college. Latine and other historically underrepresented student groups may experience greater challenges in this area than White students due to a greater propensity for feelings of belonging uncertainty, perceptions of…

We examined associations between proactive and reactive aggression and peer likability across two academic years. Analyses were based on a sample of 442 elementary school children. Proactive and reactive aggression were assessed through self-report and peer likability was assessed via a peer nomination inventory. Data were collected in the fall…

Peer rejections impair children's well-being in ECEC, impede their social and emotional development, and increase the risk of multiple forms of peer adversities. This study explores children's need for empathy when experiencing rejections from peers in free play situations in ECEC. The data were collected through video-recorded dialogical…

The aim of the present study was to investigate the five different components of self-perception (academic competence, social acceptance, athletic competence, physical appearance and school behavior), and to identify the dimensions that affect self-esteem in children with Childhood onset Fluency Disorder (CoFD). The study sample consisted of…

This study investigated the role of behavioral norms on concurrent links between problem behaviors (externalizing problems, internalizing problems, attention-hyperactivity problems) and social status (acceptance, rejection) in special education classrooms at four time points within and across school years. Two opposing models were considered, the…

Defending a victimized peer is a socially risky behavior that may require high peer status and may depend on how popular or disliked bullies are in the classroom (i.e., within-classroom correlations between bullying and status). Past research has investigated defending as a unidimensional construct, though it can involve confronting the bully…

This study examines how young adults evaluate gender-based social inclusion and exclusion from academic peer groups. Participants included 199 college students (M[subscript age] = 19.18; SD = 1.37, Range = 18-25), who made judgments about the acceptability of gender-based social exclusion of female and male peers from a Physics group (a…

Social rejection is an undesirable phenomenon with serious present and future implications for children who experience it. Growing rates of social rejection and bullying in elementary-school children, especially on social networks, have been examined mostly from a pathological perspective focused on the rejected child or rejecting group. This…

This study examined pathways from prosocial behaviour in the beginning of the school year to emotional health and academic achievement in the end of the year, taking into account the mediating role of peer acceptance. Participants were 734 grade 4 to 7 students in public elementary schools (51% female) in Western Canada. As expected, pathway…

Being part of a peer group and feeling a sense of belonging increases the well-being of children in early childhood education and care (ECEC). Still, children face exclusion and rejection by peers. This study examined children's peer exclusion experiences in pre-primary school settings, investigating children's voices and perspectives through…

Scientific literature indicates that theory of mind (ToM) is less strongly associated with peer acceptance (PA) in the case of boys and the case of negative nominations. This study hypothesizes that these two effects of ToM on PA could be an epiphenomenon of counterfactual reasoning (CFR). Fifty-three 3-5-year-olds participated in this study. The…

This study aimed to uncover key variable relationships underlying social marginalisation of students in public schools. Structural equation modelling was conducted on a large subset of the Danish Programme for Learning Management survey (2017) containing both student (Grades 4-10, ages 10-16) and parent responses (N = 42,702). The Social…

Reviews concerning the enhancement of preschool children's social competencies reveal areas within which teacher approach, definitions of social competence and methods of study can be enhanced. In response, teachers and researchers co-developed and introduced a peer-based relational intervention to support children's communication, empathic…