This study examines whether and how an individual's subjective, or self-rated, popularity is related to one's structural position in the peer network, as measured by betweenness centrality and structural hole measure. Data were drawn from the original fieldwork conducted in Laos (N = 1,490; boys = 40%; M[subscript age] = 13), a low-income country…

Early adolescents vary in their susceptibility to peer influence on delinquency. However, it is still less clear which factors explain this variation and how these factors relate to each other. In this study, 10 factors that may moderate peer influence were investigated. A sample of 868 participants was followed across six occasions from seventh…

Prior empirical work has documented that the dynamics of social standing can play a critical role in the perpetration and receipt of aggression during adolescence. Recently, investigators have emphasized the emergence of new, electronic modalities for aggressive acts. Our longitudinal project therefore considered electronic forms of aggression and…

This paper examines the micro-political experiences of Adam (a pseudonym), a newly appointed fitness coach at a Football Association Premier League club, in his search for acceptance by senior colleagues. Data were collected through a series of in-depth, semi-structured interviews, before being subject to a process of inductive analysis. Goffman's…

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…

This study examined how children's aggression and prosocial behavior are related to the preference and popularity of their best friends. Participants were 1,953 fourth-graders (52.2% boys). Measures included peer nominations of friendship, peer status, overt and relational aggression, and prosocial behavior. A total of 334 reciprocal same-sex best…

This study examined the communication of non-aggressive, rejected (NAR) children and popular children during peer interaction. The participants were 80 fifth and sixth graders recruited from a larger sociometric sample (40 boys and 40 girls; 20 NAR children and 60 non-aggressive, popular children). Participants were assigned to 40 same-gender…

This study reports on a qualitative analysis of data from interviews with 15 heterosexual males ages 16-18 in Canadian high schools. Findings indicate that gay male youth often occupy lower status positions in the school's social hierarchy. Heterosexual males did not typically want to associate with gay male peers for fear of being perceived as…

This study examined gender and status differences among sixth through eighth grade early adolescents' (N = 387) descriptions of what it means to be popular. More boys than girls specified being "cool", "athletic", "funny", and "defiant/risky", whereas more girls than boys identified wearing nice "clothing", being "attractive", "mean", "snobby",…

The belief that women and men are held to different standards of sexual conduct is pervasive in contemporary American society. According to the sexual double standard, boys and men are rewarded and praised for heterosexual sexual contacts, whereas girls and women are derogated and stigmatized for similar behaviors. Although widely held by the…

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…

Compared peer appraisals of hyperactive boys (N=40) after taking either placebo or 0.3 mg/kg or 0.6 mg/kg methylphenidate (Retaline). Found methylphenidate enhanced social standing but did not normalize peer appraisals. Found marked inter-individual variability in medication response. (Author/CM)

Sociometric and activity questionnaires were administered using a sample of 28 learning disabled (LD) boys (ages 6-13) enrolled in private school. Results suggested that the LD population is sociometrically heterogeneous. Popularity was found to be significantly related to informal get-togethers with friends, but not to levels of participation in…

A 1992 study examined responses from 478 intermediate grades students to determine the activities they prefer and their attitudes toward the role of sports in determining social status. Results showed that academic achievement rated below appearance (girls) and sports (boys) in determining personal popularity. (GLR)

This study, with 64 gifted students (grades 4-8) and 432 nongifted peers, found that, although gifted boys were the most popular group, gifted girls were the least popular. Gifted boys were perceived by peers to be physically attractive, less aggressive, more creative, and smarter than other children. (Author/DB)