Staying cool across the first year of middle school

Does parochial cooperation exist in childhood and adolescence? A meta-analysis

Although previous meta-analytic evidence supports the existence of parochialism in cooperation among adults, the extent to which children and adolescents are more willing to incur a personal cost to benefit ingroups, compared to outgroups, is not yet clear. We provide the first meta-analysis on the existence and magnitude of parochialism in cooperation among pre-adults. Based on 20 experimental economics studies (k = 69, N = 5268, age = 3-19, 12 countries, published 2008-2019), a multilevel meta-analytic model revealed a small overall effect size indicating that children and adolescents were more cooperative towards ingroups (d = 0.22, 95% CI [0.07, 0.38]). A series of single-moderator analyses tested for the following conditions: participant age and sex; game type ([mini-]dictator game, prisoner's dilemma, public goods dilemma, trust game, ultimatum game); outcome interdependence; membership manipulation (between- vs. within-subjects); group type (natural vs. experimental); reward type (monetary vs. non-monetary); and country of the participant. Parochial cooperation did not vary with participants' age. Parochialism was larger in non-interdependent (dictator-type) compared to interdependent (bargaining and social dilemma) games. There were no moderating effects of group type, membership manipulation or reward type. To provide more data on how parochialism develops, primary studies should report age ranges more precisely and use more restricted age groups.

New Approaches to Defender and Outsider Roles in School Bullying

Using latent profile analysis, this study refined the traditional defender and outsider roles in bullying research and examined intrapersonal, interpersonal, and contextual factors associated with subtypes of roles. Participants were 1,373 adolescents (40% girls, M_age : 14 years) from 54 classrooms in six middle schools. The results revealed that defenders could be classified as either assertive or comforting and that outsiders could be classified as either sympathetic or indifferent. These different profiles were explained by affective empathy, antibullying attitudes, self-efficacy, and responsibility to intervene at the intrapersonal level; popularity and peer preference at the interpersonal level; and peers' antibullying attitudes and expectations at the contextual level. Implications for studying participant roles in bullying research and for advancing antibullying interventions were discussed.

Too tough at the top: Using latent class growth analysis to assess cool status during middle school

INTRODUCTION

Obtaining and maintaining high social status in one's peer group is often a critical developmental goal during adolescence. The present study investigated factors that predict trajectories of cool status for middle school adolescents as well as how different cool status trajectories affect depressive symptoms.

METHODS

The participants were 5,991 adolescents (52% girls) from 26 urban middle schools in California. Using latent class growth analysis, baseline assessment occurred in the fall of sixth grade, and repeated assessments occurred in the spring of sixth, seventh, and eighth grades.

RESULTS

Three cool status trajectories were identified: (1) a high ascending cool status group (5% of the sample); (2) a decreasing cool status group (25%); and (3) a maintaining low cool status group (70%). Differences in the three groups were explained by GPA and having a reputation as aggressive at the beginning of middle school and the level of depression at the end of middle school. Those in the high ascending cool status group experienced the most depressive symptoms at the end of 8th grade.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest the need for a more nuanced perspective on maintaining cool status during adolescence that considers both its risks and benefits.

Social Status and Classroom Behavior in Math and Science during Early Adolescence

Social status is a salient feature of the classroom peer ecology in early adolescence, yet research has not examined how it plays out within the domains of math and science. The current study investigated the behavioral profiles of cool and admired youth (n = 739, 51% female) in 5th and 6th grade math and science classes. "Cool" youth were perceived by peers as academically oriented, prosocial, and not disruptive. When grade level differences were found, they tended to favor 5th graders, such that cool youth had even more positive profiles in 5th grade compared to 6th grade. Admiration was associated with a more adaptive pattern of behaviors than coolness, and grade level differences were less pronounced. Cross-lagged models revealed some reciprocal relationships between behavior and social status. Implications for teachers are discussed, namely that attention to social status dynamics is important for creating a positive social climate that supports early adolescent engagement in math and science classes.

Defending Victims of Bullying in Early Adolescence: A Multilevel Analysis

Adolescents' defending behaviors in school bullying situations is likely determined by individual characteristics, social status variables, and classroom/school contextual factors operating simultaneously in the peer ecology. However, there is little research on defending behavior that utilizes this multilevel approach. This study investigated how students' willingness to defend victims of bullying was affected by feelings of empathy, perceived popularity, and classroom-level perceived prosocial norms. Participants were 1373 adolescents (40% girls, Mage: 14 yrs) from 54 classrooms in six middle schools in South Korea. These youth reported on their feelings of empathy and how prosocial they perceived their classmates to be. Peer-ratings and peer nominations were used to estimate defending behaviors and which students were perceived as popular. Multilevel analyses showed that participants were more likely to defend victims when they had greater empathy and perceived popularity and when classroom-level prosocial norms were higher. The findings have implications for interventions to reduce school bullying and for studying defending behavior in multiple cultural contexts.