Previous research has shown that adolescents' attention for a peer is determined by the peer's status. This study examined how it is also determined by the status of the perceiving adolescent, and the gender of both parties involved (perceiver and perceived). Participants were 122 early adolescents (M age = 11.0 years) who completed…

In preschool classes, sociometric peer ratings are used to measure children's peer relationships. The current study examined a computerized version of preschool sociometric ratings. The psychometric properties were compared of computerized sociometric ratings and traditional peer ratings for preschoolers. The distributions, inter-item…

Children's peer relationships are frequently assessed with peer nominations. An important methodological issue is whether to collect unlimited or limited nominations. Some researchers have argued that the psychometric differences between both methods are negligible, while others have claimed that one is superior over the other. The current study…

This study examined the behavioral, personality, and communicative predictors of acceptance and popularity in 608 early adolescents. Data were collected with sociometric methods and ratings in 30 sixth-grade classrooms. Hierarchical regressions were run to predict acceptance and popularity from prosocial, antisocial, and withdrawn behavior,…

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…

Previous research suggests that the prevalence of aggression is high among low-income urban youth who have to cope with a number of psychological stressors. Less is known about the early development and consequences of aggression and peer victimization prior to adolescence in these contexts. This study examined the correlates, interplay, and…

This study examined the dynamics of popularity in adolescent friendship networks across 3 years in middle school. Longitudinal social network modeling was used to identify selection and influence in the similarity of popularity among friends. It was argued that lower status adolescents strive to enhance their status through befriending higher…

This study compared the effects of social intelligence and cognitive intelligence, as measured by academic achievement, on adolescent popularity in two school contexts. A distinction was made between sociometric popularity, a measure of acceptance, and perceived popularity, a measure of social dominance. Participants were 512, 14-15 year-old…

Social developmentalists typically distinguish three levels of analysis in the study of peer relations in childhood and adolescence: individual, dyadic, and group. At the individual level of analysis, sociometric status and individual social behavior are studied. At the dyadic level, researchers traditionally study friendships but increasingly…

Reviews the empirical literature on the stability of sociometric categories and discusses four conceptual issues related to the stability of sociometric status. (JPB)

Using a detailed classification of 25 social strategies, this study investigated the relationship between children's sociometric status and their use of social strategies. Subjects were 220 boys, 5 to 7 years of age, who were classified into sociometric status types of popular, average, or rejected. Each subject generated as many responses as…

Introduces the basic ideas of Jacob Moreno's (1934) historical model of sociometric judgment and discusses how developmental psychologists have used this model in child development research. Traces the development of sociometric techniques to study children's peer relations, and notes the limitations of contemporary sociometric techniques. (JPB)

The authors' goals in the study were to investigate the possible gains made by including multiple assessments of status in the prediction of change in psychosocial adjustment and to compare the effectiveness of continuous and categorical measures of peer status in predicting adjustment. The authors obtained continuous and categorical measures of…

Elementary students completed daily diaries indicating peer encounters and participated in sociometric surveys. Findings indicated negative peer experiences related to their reputations as assessed by sociometric nominations. Children who were poorly liked or viewed as exhibiting undesirable characteristics encountered more peer mistreatment than…

The present study explored the heterogeneous nature of popularity by investigating subgroups of popular girls (N = 365) in their first year of secondary school (mean age = 13.05). Cluster analysis revealed the presence of five subgroups based upon sociometric popularity (i.e., those considered "likeable" by peers) and consensual popularity (i.e.,…