Two social worlds: Social correlates and stability of adolescent status groups (original) (raw)
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The purpose of this study was to identify and validate subtypes of peer status by integrating preference and popularity into a single framework. Person- oriented analyses were performed among 3,630 children and adolescents of different cohorts in primary and secondary education. In the young age groups (Grade 3/4 to Grade 7), three clusters were found: popular- liked, average, and unpopular-disliked. In the older age group (Grade 8), four clusters were found: popular, liked, average, and unpopular-disliked. Thus, participants differentiated liked peers from popular peers at the age of 14, but not earlier. Distinct behavioral profiles were found for each subtype. Cohort-sequential analyses demonstrated high stability of cluster membership, especially among the high-status groups. Developmental implications and the importance of school transitions are discussed.
Measuring Social Status and Social Behavior with Peer and Teacher Nomination Methods
Sociometric nomination methods are used extensively to measure social status and social behaviors among children and adolescents. In the current study, the corre- spondence between teacher and peer nomination methods for the identification of preference and popularity was examined. Participants were 733 children in grade 5/6 (M age = 12.05 years, SD = .64; 53.3 percent boys) and their 29 teachers. Children and teachers completed nomination questions for preference, popularity, and 12 social behaviors. Results showed moderate overlap between teacher and peer nominations of social status; teachers and peers agreed on students’ preference and popularity levels in 62.7 percent and 69 percent of the cases, respectively. Secondly, we examined the social behaviors (prosocial behaviors, overt and relational aggres- sion, victimization) that teachers and peers ascribe to children at different levels of preference and popularity. Both teachers and peers made clear behavioral distinc- tions between low, average, and highly preferred or popular children. For preference, the behavioral profiles did not differ between teachers and peers. For popularity, no differences between teachers and peers were found in the behavioral descriptions of unpopular and average children. However, teachers and peers differed in their behavioral descriptions of popular children. Implications and directions for further research are discussed.
A ratings-based approach to two-dimensional sociometric status determination
New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2000
Until the early eighties, sociometric status was assessed in a one-dimensional way, employing either nominations or ratings. In the nominations-based procedure, all children from a group (usually a classroom group) are asked to nominate peers with whom they would most like to undertake a certain activity (for example, playing) and to nominate peers with whom they would least like to undertake that same activity. In the ratings-based method all children in a group are asked to indicate on a rating scale how much they like or dislike every other child in the group. Both procedures aim at a one-dimensional classification of social acceptance of individuals within their peer group.
Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 2005
Sociometric status classifications of 205 youths (average age 11.3 years) were assessed on three occasions with 1-year intervals, using the current nomination methods and a two-dimensional rating-based procedure (SSrat). The goal of the study was to compare the stability of the methods involved. Preliminarily, it is shown that (a) the data allowed the stabilities of the different systems to be interpreted as test-retest reliabilities, and (b) usual practice of implementing a uniform cutoff limit for all sociometric categories without further justification was inadvisable. Consequently, the reliability of the various methods was established with varying cutoff limits. The rating-based systems were shown to yield classifications with test-retest reliability over 0.50, considerably higher than the nomination methods. We also demonstrated that the rating scale system provides the opportunity to monitor the choice of more appropriate cutoff criteria. As for theoretical implications, the present study provides support for Coie's theory [Coie, J.D., 1990. Toward a theory of peer rejection. In S.R. Asher, J.D. Coie. Peer rejection in childhood.
Sociometric status and peer group dynamics
Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 1988
The internal consistency of the rating sociometric technique commonly used to assess children who might be prone to interpersonal problems later on was determined, The findings question the use of global indices of sociometric ratings in the examination of preschool peer interactions because they might mask important information about individual dimensions of friendships.
Social prominence and the heterogeneity of rejected status in late elementary school
School Psychology Quarterly, 2011
The heterogeneity of peer rejection was examined as a function of social prominence in fifth grade classrooms. From an overall sample of 3,891 (1,931 girls) students, 721 youth (424 boys) were identified with rejected status. Social prominence was determined from the aggregation of peer nominations for leader, athletic, eool, and popular. Students with rejected sociometric status were classified into one of three prominence subtypes: high, medium, and low. Prominence subtypes were differentially linked to social behavior and peer affiliations. Although relatively few rejected students had high prominence, those who did tended to have higher levels of peer-assessed aggression, were more likely to be identified as bullies, had lower levels of internalizing behavior, and were less likely to be socially isolated and more likely to associate with socially prominent peers as compared to youth in other rejected status social prominence subtypes.
A Multiperspective Comparison of Peer Sociometric Status Groups in Childhood and Adolescence
Child Development, 1996
This study explores the sociometric status group differences in psychosocial adjustment and academic performance in various domains using multiple sources of information (teacher-, peer-, self-ratings, achievement data) and 2 age groups (elementary and secondary school students) in a different educational and cultural context. Gender differences in the profiles of the sociometric groups were also examined. The sample consisted of 1,041 elementary school (mean age = 11.4 years) and 862 secondary school (mean age = 14.3 years) students in public schools in Greece. Findings extended previous descriptions of rejected, neglected, and controversial groups based on the perceptions of all raters. Gender and age differences were found in the profiles of rejected and controversial groups, which were markedly distinguished from the other groups based on all data sets. Neglected children at both age levels were differentiated to a weaker degree.
Journal of Adolescence, 2011
School pupils strive to meet both school-defined and social goals, and the structure of adolescent self-concept is multidimensional, including both academic and non-academic self-perceptions. However, subjective social status within the school community has been represented as a single dimension. Scottish 15-year olds participating in a school-based survey (N = 3194) rated their own status, compared to their school year-group, via images of seven 10-rung ladders. These generated a very high response rate, and factor analysis distinguished three dimensions: (1) ladders representing "popular", "powerful", "respected", "attractive or stylish" and "trouble-maker"; (2) "doing well at school" and "[not] a trouble-maker"; and (3) "sporty". Unique relationships with variables representing more objective and/or self-report behavioural measures suggest these dimensions are markers of "peer", "scholastic" and "sports" status. These analyses suggest multiple dimensions of adolescent social hierarchy can be very simply measured and contribute towards the development of more robust instruments within this area.