Adolescents' Popularity-Motivated Aggression and Prosocial Behaviors: The Roles of Callous-Unemotional Traits and Social Status Insecurity

Popularity Status Insecurity as a Risk Factor for Adolescents' Maladaptive Weight-Related Cognitions and Behaviors: Examining a Moderated Mediation Model

Previous studies have identified popularity as a risk factor for adolescents' body image concerns and disordered eating behaviors, yet little is known about how adolescents' insecure feelings about their popularity status may be associated with these outcomes. To address this gap, this study examined whether popularity status insecurity was linked to weight-related cognitions and behaviors one year later and whether these links were mediated by body dissatisfaction and moderated by popularity status. A total of 233 Chinese 10th and 11th grade adolescents (41% girls; M_age = 15.81 years, SD = 0.68) participated in the study. The results showed that adolescents' popularity status insecurity was positively and indirectly related to greater future drive for thinness and restrained eating through the mediation of dissatisfied feelings about their own body shape only among those with average and low popularity, and these indirect effects were strengthened as adolescents' popularity decreased. Implications for prevention and intervention of eating disturbances for adolescents are discussed.

The Silver Lining in the Dark Cloud of Social Status Insecurity: The Mediating Role of Popularity Goals in the Association Between Social Status Insecurity and Chinese Adolescents' Bullying Bystander Behaviors

Bullying bystander behavior has an important effect on bullying-both in stopping and facilitating it. Although bullying bystander behaviors have long been understood as a peer group process, existing research that focuses on the role of peer factors is still limited. Moreover, less is known about the social cognitive-related role of peer factors and its underlying mechanisms in adolescents' bullying bystander behaviors. Accordingly, using resource control theory, this study examines the mediating effects of popularity goals on the associations between social status insecurity and bullying bystander behaviors (active defending behaviors, passive bystanding behaviors) among 333 Chinese adolescents (181 males; M_age = 13.10; SD = .50). Analyses were conducted using SPSS 23 to conduct descriptive and correlation analyses. The hypothesized mediation model was tested using a structural equation modeling approach with bootstrapping techniques (bootstrap replications: 5,000) using AMOS 23. The results showed that popularity goals fully mediated the relationship between adolescents' social status insecurity and their active defending behaviors. No gender differences in these mediating effects were observed. The results also indicated that popularity goals did not mediate the relationship between social status insecurity and passive bystanding behaviors. These findings enrich our understanding of bullying bystander behaviors and highlight the positive role of social cognitive factors (e.g., popularity goals) in active defending behaviors. Our findings deepen our understanding of bullying bystanders through integrating proximate and ultimate approaches. Our findings have significant practical implications, which suggest that school anti-bullying interventions should value the positive roles of social status insecurity and popularity goals in promoting active defending behaviors.