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 four-wave longitudinal study examined bidirectional associations among pupils' social status (preference and popularity) and teacher-child relationship characteristics (quality, support, satisfaction, and conflict) in special education. Participants included 586 pupils (86% boys) initially attending Grades 4 and 5 (M[subscript age Wave 1] =…

Children's peer relationships are frequently assessed with peer nominations. An important methodological issue is whether to collect unlimited or limited nominations. Some researchers have argued that the psychometric differences between both methods are negligible, while others have claimed that one is superior over the other. The current study…

A social-cognitive framework was used to generate and test hypotheses regarding the role of children's causal attributions for peer victimization in predicting how they cope with such experiences. It was hypothesized that attributions would be differentially associated with coping as a function of the direction (i.e., upward, horizontal, or…

This study investigated whether perceived popularity mediates and/or moderates the association between agentic goals and bullying, and whether sociometric popularity mediates and/or moderates the association between communal goals and bullying. Age and gender differences were also examined. Participants were 276 fourth and fifth graders (middle…

This study examined the construct validity of nonverbal social aggression and the relation of nonverbal social aggression to dimensions of children's social status. Peer nominations of verbal social, nonverbal social, direct veral, and physical aggression, as well as social dominance, perceived popularity, and social acceptance, were collected…

The current study follows two cohorts of fourth and fifth graders across 1 school year to better understand why some students change peer groups. The study focuses on popularity and intragroup social status. We examined whether differences between individuals' and group members' self-perceptions of popularity were related to changing peer groups.…

Although positive peer relationships have been shown to promote healthy school involvement and academic achievement, subpopulations of perceived popular (i.e., socially prominent, high status), but aggressive, youth have been identified who exhibit poor school functioning. The objective of this study was to examine whether attainment of perceived…

We prospectively examined the role of physical activity involvement, weight status, and motor functioning capability in 1st grade for social status among other pupils in class in the 4th grade. Our sample included 80 Norwegian 1st grade pupils (Girls N = 44; Boys N = 36). 1st grade motor proficiency and objectively measured physical activity, but…

This study investigated the independent and interacting effects of classroom-level embeddedness (i.e., hierarchical vs. egalitarian) and classroom density on the perceived popularity and social preference of aggressive and victimized 3rd-4th grade students (N = 881). A cohesive blocking procedure was used to compute embeddedness. Multilevel…

The present study focused on the role of cognitive, emotional, and interpersonal factors in predicting defending of bullied peer. Specifically, the degree to which peer status moderates the effects of emotional and cognitive factors on defending behavior was tested. The sample included 489 students (257 girls) from grades 4 (mean age, 10.6 years)…

This study tested the effects of 5 classroom contextual features on the social status (perceived popularity and social preference) that peers accord to aggressive students in late elementary school, including classroom peer status hierarchy (whether within-classroom differences in popularity are large or small), classroom academic level, and grade…

The present study investigated the role of theory of mind (ToM) skills in three forms of involvement in bullying: ringleader bullying, defending the victim(s), and victimization. Individual (affective empathy) and interpersonal variables (social preference and perceived popularity) were assumed to moderate the associations between ToM and the ways…

The extant literature on the social functioning of students with learning disabilities (LD) has indicated that whereas a majority belong to peer groups, a higher proportion are isolated and most have lower social status among peers in general than their typically achieving classmates. Although some work has examined these issues over short-term…

This study asks whether bullies have higher social status than their victims. Social status was measured by social preference, popularity, and physical competence as perceived by children and teachers. A survey instrument was introduced to enable identification of specific victims associated with specific bullies. The sample was 508 fourth and…