NCJ Number
216569
Journal
Journal of Adolescence Volume: 29 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2006 Pages: 935-959
Date Published
December 2006
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This longitudinal study examined the effects of physical aggression, relational aggression, and gender on the development of sociometric and peer-perceived popularity among a sample of 303 students.
Abstract
Results revealed that across grades 5 to 12, peer-perceived popularity was more stable than sociometric popularity among both girls and boys. Findings also indicated that boys were able to maintain compatibility between both types of popularity throughout adolescence whereas girls experienced an incompatibility between being liked and being perceived as popular across adolescence. Overt aggression was related to low sociometric popularity in the first half of the study and with an increase in peer-perceived popularity in the second half of the study. Relational aggression was related to high peer-perceived popularity for both boys and girls but was related to a decrease in sociometric popularity, particularly among girls. The influence of relational aggression on peer-perceived popularity was greatest during the transition from middle to high school. The findings support the use of growth curve models for exploring the social development of adolescents. Data were gathered from 303 students (167 girls, 136 boys) during the spring of eight consecutive years from grade 5 to grade 12. Peer-, self-, and teacher-report questionnaires that gathered information about peer perceptions of popularity among students, and overt and relational aggression. Sociometric popularity was measured using a group-administered peer nomination instrument. Data analysis involved the use of Fisher’s r-to-Z tests and multiple regression models. Future research should focus on the methodological challenges of measuring sociometric data. Tables, figures, references