Behavioral Correlates of Prioritizing Popularity in Adolescence

Being on top versus not dangling at the bottom: Popularity motivation and aggression in youth

Whereas research on aggression and status motivation in youth has predominantly looked at a promotion focus (striving for popularity), a prevention focus (wanting to avoid low popularity) could also be an important determinant of aggression, as youth who fear low popularity may use strategic aggression to secure their position. The aim of the current study was to develop reliable measures for both popularity motivations, and examine how both motivations are uniquely and jointly related to aggression. Participants were 1123 Dutch secondary school students (M age = 14.4 years, 48% girls), who completed a 3-item measure of striving for high popularity based on existing questionnaires (Li & Wright, 2014; Ojanen et al., 2005), and a 3-item measure of avoiding low popularity consisting of an adapted version of the high popularity items. Aggressive behavior was measured through peer nominations. Motivations were moderately correlated (r = .51), but did not always co-occur within the same person, as 17% of the sample belonged to a cluster that scored low on striving for popularity, but moderately high on avoiding low popularity. When considered simultaneously, striving for high popularity was not related to any type of aggression, whereas avoiding affiliation with unpopular peers was related to strategic aggression. For physical and verbal aggression, gossiping, excluding and bullying, the association of avoiding low popularity with aggression was strongest when youth also strived for high popularity. Future work should take both popularity motivations into account to better understand, predict and intervene on youth's aggression toward peers.

Is Bullying Always about Status? Status Goals, Forms of Bullying, Popularity and Peer Rejection during Adolescence

Bullying has been associated with status goals among peers, but this research has not distinguished among forms of bullying, nor included actual status or popularity among peers in an integrated analysis. To this aim, in concurrent correlational data, we examined adolescent status goals as predictors of peer-reported physical, verbal, exclusionary and electronic bullying, and these further as predictors of popularity and peer rejection (N = 256; 67.2% girls; M age = 12.2 years). We also explored potential indirect associations of status goals with popularity and peer rejection via forms of bullying. The findings indicated that verbal bullying was the most common form of bullying. Status goals were positively related to all but physical bullying, yet only verbal bullying partially mediated this association with popularity. Electronic bullying was unrelated to popularity and peer rejection, when controlling for other bullying forms (but was positively related to rejection at the bi-variate level). The findings underscore the importance of assessing bullying as a heterogeneous construct, as related goals and adjustment among peers may depend on its specific form.

Adolescents' neural sensitivity to high and low popularity: Longitudinal links to risk-taking and prosocial behavior

Adolescents are particularly attuned to popularity within peer groups, which impacts behaviors such as risk-taking and prosocial behavior. Neurodevelopmental changes orient adolescents toward salient social cues in their environment. We examined whether neural regions that track popularity are associated with longitudinal changes in risk-taking and prosocial behavior. During an fMRI scan, adolescents (n = 109, Mage=13.59, SD=0.59) viewed pictures of their popular and unpopular classmates based on sociometric nominations from their social networks. Neural tracking of high popularity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex was associated with increases in risk-taking behavior, whereas tracking of low popularity in the right insula was associated with increases in prosocial behavior. Results suggest that individual differences in neural tracking of popularity relate to longitudinal changes in adolescents' social behaviors.

How popularity goal and popularity status are related to observed and peer-nominated aggressive and prosocial behaviors in elementary school students

Whereas previous research with secondary school students has demonstrated that popularity goals and actual popularity status are related to peer-reported aggression, it is unclear whether this is already the case in the upper grades of elementary school. The current study extends previous research by assessing elementary school students, focusing on both aggressive and prosocial behaviors, and importantly by observing aggressive and prosocial behaviors in cooperative and competitive small-group settings. Participants were 173 Dutch fifth- and sixth-grade students (58.2% girls; M_age = 11.11 years, SD = 0.72), who self-reported popularity goals and nominated peers for popularity, aggressive behavior, and prosocial behavior. Participants' behavior in a cooperative task and a competitive task, completed in groups of 4, was observed. Results show that popularity goal was related to high levels of aggression according to peers (only for boys) and to low levels of prosocial behavior across reporters and settings. Actual popularity status was related to high levels of strategic aggression across reporters and settings and additional high levels of strategic prosocial behavior in a cooperative setting. Thus, the current study demonstrates that popularity goal is already related to social behavior in elementary school and that desired and actual popularity are not only predictive of the behavior as perceived by peers but also predictive of observed behaviors during group interactions.

Patterns of relational aggression, narcissism, and self-esteem: Adolescents’ social goals unraveled

This study applies latent profile analysis to identify profiles of adolescents differentiated on levels of relational aggression (RAgg), self-esteem, and narcissism. To understand the social aspects of these profiles within the adolescent peer context, we compare them to their reported social goals of dominance, popularity, and intimacy. Greek junior high school students ( N = 2,207), selected via random stratified cluster sampling, aged 13–16 ( M = 14.04, SD =.81), completed a self-report survey. Based on self-esteem, narcissism, and RAgg scores, four groups emerged: the group with the lowest scores in RAgg, narcissism, and self-esteem (“low risk”), the group with the highest scores in RAgg, narcissism, and self-esteem (“relational aggressors with narcissistic self-esteem”), the group with moderate scores in RAgg, narcissism, and self-esteem (“moderate risk”), and the group with high RAgg and narcissism scores but low self-esteem (“relational aggressors with vulnerable self-esteem”). Relational aggressors with high narcissism and self-esteem scored higher on social goals than those with vulnerable self-esteem (high narcissism but low self-esteem). Preventive policies should replace excessive and unconditional praise with more realistic self-esteem sources and teach adolescents how to respond to negative feedback and to cope with ego threats or social placement concerns.

Bullying perpetration and victimization associations to suicide behavior: a longitudinal study

Previous studies have reported a longitudinal association between cybervictimization and suicidal thoughts and behavior. However, the relationship between cyber-perpetration and prospective suicide risk remains unclear. The sample was composed of 2150 at-risk adolescents (mean age 15.42), enrolled in Vocational Education and Training high schools in Israel. Cyberbullying, traditional bullying, depression, hostility, serious suicidal ideations, and suicide attempts were assessed through self-report questionnaires at the beginning of the school year and one year later. All types of victimization and preparation were cross-sectionally associated with suicide ideation and attempts. Longitudinal associations were found between cyber-perpetration and suicidal ideation/attempts. Cyber-perpetrators were found to be over twice more likely to report serious suicidal ideation (OR = 2.04) or attempt suicide (OR = 2.64) in the subsequent year compared to noninvolved adolescents. These associations were significant even after adjusting for baseline depression, hostility, and traditional bullying. Traditional bullying perpetration was prospectively associated with suicide attempts. Traditional victimization was cross-sectionally associated with suicide ideation and attempts but not prospectively. Cybervictimization was prospectively associated with suicide ideation but not to suicide attempts. The findings demonstrate the prospective risk of involvement in bullying in regard to suicide ideation and behavior. Cyberbullying was found to be a somewhat differentiated phenomena from traditional bullying.

Peer likeability and victimization in young adolescents: Moderating effects of descriptive and status group norms for aggression and prosocial behaviour and network density

INTRODUCTION

Previous research has shown that peer victimization can be highly responsive to variables at the classroom level. Aggressive and prosocial norms may promote or reduce its status in classrooms. However, yet there is an apparent lack of success to explain which types of norms are more influential. This study examined the role of aggressive and prosocial descriptive and status norms in the peer victimization-status link. It also explores how the network density increases adherence to the prevailing norm in the classroom and its effect on the status of the victims.

METHOD

Data on peer acceptance and rejection, victimization, prosocial behaviour, and aggression were collected with sociometric methods in a sample of 6,600 students (M = 13.1 years, SD = 0.6; 49.2% girls), from 269 classrooms in 81 secondary schools in Spain. Group norms for aggression and for prosocial behaviour were assessed in three ways, the behaviour of all peers (class-norm), the behaviour of most-liked peers (likeability-norm), and the behaviour of most salient peers (visibility-norm).

RESULTS

Multilevel regression analyses revealed that the negative impact of victimization on peer likeability was moderated by the classroom's norm for prosocial behaviour, by the status norm of most visible peers' norm for prosocial behaviour and for aggression, and by the group's network density. The behavioural status norms of most likeable peers had no significant effect.

CONCLUSION

These results underscore the overall importance of group context as a moderating factor of the relation between victimization and peer status in adolescents, and add to the growing body of knowledge driven by the socio-ecological approach to the study of peer relations in developmental psychology. As implications for education, these results affect the importance of considering socio-emotional variables in the formation of class groups in order to reduce victimization.

Bullying Prevention in Adolescence: Solutions and New Challenges from the Past Decade

Bullying among youth at school continues to be a global challenge. Being exposed to bullying may be especially hurtful in adolescence, a vulnerable period during which both peer group belonging and status become key concerns. In the current review, we first summarize the effectiveness of the solutions that were offered a decade ago in the form of anti-bullying programs. We proceed by highlighting some intriguing challenges concomitant to, or emerging from these solutions, focusing especially on their relevance during adolescence. These challenges are related to (1) the relatively weak, and highly variable effects of anti-bullying programs, (2) the complex associations among bullying, victimization, and social status, (3) the questions raised regarding the beneficial (or possibly iatrogenic) effects of peer defending, and (4) the healthy context paradox, that is, the phenomenon of remaining or emerging victims being worse off in contexts where the average levels of victimization decrease. We end by providing some suggestions for the next decade of research in the area of bullying prevention among adolescents.

Preference and popularity as distinct forms of status: A meta-analytic review of 20 years of research

INTRODUCTION

A systematic meta-analysis was conducted of the association between preference and popularity across childhood and adolescence. The role of development, sex, and region of the world were examined.

METHOD

The analysis was conducted on 135 samples including 136,014 participants. The samples were divided by age (upper grades primary school, k = 41; lower grades secondary school, k = 72; upper grades secondary school, k = 22) and region (North America, k = 54; Europe, k = 66; China, k = 10).

RESULTS

Across all samples, a moderate positive association between preference and popularity was found (r = 0.45). The association was significantly weaker in the upper grades of secondary school (r = 0.37) than in the lower grades of secondary school (r = 0.47) or the upper grades of primary school (r = 0.47). The association was weaker for girls (r = 0.26) than for boys (r = 0.38) in the upper grades of secondary school. The association was weaker in European samples (r = 0.41) than in those from North America (r = 0.50) and China (r = 0.57).

CONCLUSIONS

The results confirmed that preference and popularity are related but distinct dimensions of adolescent peer status. The association differed significantly by age, sex, and region of the world. Further research should examine additional factors that explain the variability in the association between preference and popularity.

What Does Adolescent Substance Use Look Like During the COVID-19 Pandemic? Examining Changes in Frequency, Social Contexts, and Pandemic-Related Predictors

PURPOSE

The overarching goal of this study was to provide key information on how adolescents' substance use has changed since the corona virus disease (COVID)-19 pandemic, in addition to key contexts and correlates of substance use during social distancing.

METHODS

Canadian adolescents (n = 1,054, Mage = 16.68, standard deviation = .78) completed an online survey, in which they reported on their frequency of alcohol use, binge drinking, cannabis use, and vaping in the 3 weeks before and directly after social distancing practices had taken effect.

RESULTS

For most substances, the percentage of users decreased; however, the frequency of both alcohol and cannabis use increased. Although the greatest percentage of adolescents was engaging in solitary substance use (49.3%), many were still using substances with peers via technology (31.6%) and, shockingly, even face to face (23.6%). Concerns for how social distancing would affect peer reputation was a significant predictor of face-to-face substance use with friends among adolescents with low self-reported popularity, and a significant predictor of solitary substance use among average and high popularity teens. Finally, adjustment predictors, including depression and fear of the infectivity of COVID-19, predicted using solitary substance use during the pandemic.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results provide preliminary evidence that adolescent substance use, including that which occurs face to face with peers, thereby putting adolescents at risk for contracting COVID-19, may be of particular concern during the pandemic. Further, solitary adolescent substance use during the pandemic, which is associated with poorer mental health and coping, may also be a notable concern worthy of further investigation.

Bidirectional Associations between Popularity, Popularity Goal, and Aggression, Alcohol Use and Prosocial Behaviors in Adolescence: A 3-Year Prospective Longitudinal Study

Adolescents' popularity and popularity goal have been shown to be related to their aggression and alcohol use. As intervention efforts increasingly aim to focus on prosocial alternatives for youth to gain status, it is essential to have a comprehensive understanding of how popularity and popularity goal are associated with aggression and substance use as well as prosocial behaviors over time. The current study examined the bidirectional associations of aggression (overt and relational aggression), alcohol use, and prosocial behavior with popularity and popularity goal in adolescence across 3 years using cross-lagged panel analyses. Participants were 839 Dutch adolescents (M_age = 13.36, SD = 0.98; 51.3% girls). The results indicated that popularity was consistently positively associated with popularity goal, but popularity goal did not significantly predict subsequent popularity. Popularity positively predicted elevated aggression and alcohol use, but lower levels of prosocial behavior. For the full sample, alcohol use and overt aggression in grade 7 both predicted subsequent popularity in grade 8. However, when considering gender differences, overt aggression no longer was a significant predictor of popularity. These results were discussed in terms of the dynamic interplay between popularity, popularity goal, and behaviors, and in terms of implications for prevention and intervention efforts.

Situationally Selective Activation of Moral Disengagement Mechanisms in School Bullying: A Repeated Within-Subjects Experimental Study

With reference to social-cognitive theory, the aim of the present study was to examine whether school students' tendency to display different moral disengagement mechanisms varies according to different social cues in hypothetical events in which they are engaged in bullying behavior. A repeated within-subjects experimental design was adopted. A total of 706 Swedish students (aged 10-20) from 75 classrooms responded to four verbal bullying vignettes by filling out a self-report survey. The results showed changes in moral disengagement mechanisms across the bullying situations. For instance, moral justification, victim blaming, and dehumanization scored higher in the mean victim condition and lower in the likable victim condition than in the other two conditions. Diffusion of responsibility was higher in the group conformity condition than in the other conditions. The findings also revealed differences in the levels of moral disengagement mechanisms within the bullying conditions. For example, euphemistic labeling and displacement of responsibility scored higher than the other mechanisms in the laughing audience condition. Victim blaming scored higher than the other mechanisms in the mean victim condition. Dehumanization, victim blaming, and moral justification scored lowest while euphemistic labeling was higher than most of the other mechanisms in the likable victim condition.

The Interplay of Adolescents' Aggression and Victimization with Friendship and Antipathy Networks within an Educational Prosocial Intervention

How the interplay between peer relationships and behaviors unfolds and how this differs between classrooms is an understudied topic. This study examined whether adolescents befriend or dislike peers whom they consider as aggressor or victim and whether these results differ in classrooms that received an intervention to promote prosocial behavior compared to classrooms without the intervention. The sample was composed of 659 seventh graders (Mage = 12.32; 48% girls) from nine intervention and seven control classrooms in eight schools in Santiago, Chile. It was hypothesized that adolescents in intervention classrooms would be less befriended and more disliked by classmates who considered them as aggressors, and more befriended and less disliked by classmates who considered them as victims, compared to control classrooms. Longitudinal multiplex social network analyses (RSiena) indicate that antipathies toward peers considered as aggressive and victimized were significantly lower in intervention classrooms than in control classrooms, but no significant differences were found for friendships. These findings suggest that the impact of an educational intervention may go beyond changing individual behavior and extend to the way peer relations develop in classrooms.

Why does decreased likeability not deter adolescent bullying perpetrators?

This study examines why the lower likeability of bullying perpetrators does not deter them from engaging in bullying behavior, by testing three hypotheses: (a) bullying perpetrators are unaware that they are disliked, (b) they value popularity more than they value likeability, (c) they think that they have nothing to lose in terms of likeability, as they believe that their targets and other classmates would dislike them anyway, regardless of their behavior. The first two hypotheses were examined in Study 1 (1,035 Dutch adolescents, M_age = 14.15) and the third hypothesis was examined in Study 2 (601 Dutch adolescents, M_age = 12.92). Results from regression analyses showed that those higher in bullying were not more likely to overestimate their likeability. However, they were more likely than others to find being popular more important than being liked. Moreover, those higher in bullying were more likely to endorse the belief that the victimized student or the other classmates would have disliked a bullying protagonist (in vignettes of hypothetical bullying incidents) before any bullying started. These findings suggest that adolescent bullying perpetrators may not be deterred by the costs of bullying in terms of likeability, possibly because they do not value likeability that much (Hypothesis 2), and because they believe they hardly have any likeability to lose (Hypothesis 3).

The Upsides and Downsides of the Dark Side: A Longitudinal Study Into the Role of Prosocial and Antisocial Strategies in Close Friendship Formation

Resource control theory (RCT) posits that both antisocial and prosocial behaviors combine in unique ways to control resources such as friendships. We assessed students (N = 2,803; 49.7% male) yearly from junior (grades 8-10) to senior high school (11-12) on antisocial (A) and prosocial (P) behavior, peer nominated friendship, and well-being. Non-parametric cluster analyses of the joint trajectories of A and P identified four stable profiles: non-strategic (moderately low A and P), bi-strategic (moderately high on A and P), prosocial (moderately low A and moderately high on P), and antisocial (moderately low on P, and very high on A). There were clear benefits to youth using bi-strategic strategies in junior high: they attracted relatively high levels of opposite sex friendship nominations. However, this benefit disappeared in senior high. There were also clear costs: bi-strategic youth experienced relatively low well-being, and this effect was significantly more pronounced for females than males. Prosocial youth were the only ones who maintained both high friendship numbers and high well-being throughout high school. We discuss the cost/benefit trade-offs of different resource control strategies.

Social Costs for Wannabes: Moderating Effects of Popularity and Gender on the Links between Popularity Goals and Negative Peer Experiences

Youth in early adolescence are highly concerned with being popular in the peer group, but the desire to be popular can have maladaptive consequences for individuals. In fact, qualitative work suggests that youth with high popularity goals who are nonetheless unpopular have negative experiences with their peers. However, little quantitative work has examined this possibility. The purpose of the current study was to examine if popularity goals were linked with physical (e.g., being hit) and relational (e.g., being excluded) victimization and peer rejection, particularly for individuals who strived for popularity but were viewed by their peers as unpopular. Late elementary and early middle school participants (N = 205; 54% female) completed self-reports of popularity goals and peer nominations of popularity and peer rejection. Teachers reported on students' experiences of relational and physical victimization. Peer nominated popularity and gender were moderators of the association between popularity goals and negative peer experiences. Consistent with hypotheses, girls who were unpopular but wanted to be popular were more likely to experience peer rejection and relational victimization. Unexpectedly, boys who were unpopular but did not desire to be popular were more likely to be rejected and relationally victimized. The findings suggest that intervention and prevention programs may benefit from addressing the social status goals of low status youth in a gender-specific manner.