From censure to reinforcement: developmental changes in the association between aggression and social status.

Developmental changes were examined in the associations among physical and relational aggression, and sociometric and perceived popularity based on peer nominations. Participating in the longitudinal study were 905 children (440 girls, 465 boys) from ages 10 to 14. Associations between the forms of status and between the forms of aggression decreased over time. Relational aggression increasingly predicted high social prominence but low social preference; physical aggression was increasingly less disliked but decreasingly predictive of prominence. The effect of relational aggression on perceived popularity was strong for girls. Perceived popularity preceded physical and relational aggression for both genders. Implications for the attainment of high status, processes of peer influence on antisocial behavior, and gender differences in the meaning of status are discussed.

[1]  Andrea Hopmeyer,et al.  Sociometric Popularity and Peer-Perceived Popularity , 1998 .

[2]  K. Dodge,et al.  Aggression and antisocial behavior. , 1998 .

[3]  I. Sigel,et al.  HANDBOOK OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY , 2006 .

[4]  Patricia A. Adler,et al.  Dynamics of Inclusion and Exclusion in Preadolescent Cliques , 1995 .

[5]  G. Bear,et al.  Relational Aggression and Peer Relations: Gender and Developmental Issues. , 1997 .

[6]  W. Bukowski,et al.  Children's peer relations: a meta-analytic review of popular, rejected, neglected, controversial, and average sociometric status. , 1993, Psychological bulletin.

[7]  R. Cairns.  Sociometry, psychometry, and social structure: A commentary on six recent studies of popular, rejected, and neglected children. , 1983 .

[8]  Jacob Cohen.  Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences , 1969, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[9]  Peter K. Smith,et al.  Blackwell handbook of childhood social development. , 2004 .

[10]  Amanda J. Rose,et al.  Overt and relational aggression and perceived popularity: developmental differences in concurrent and prospective relations. , 2004, Developmental psychology.

[11]  D. Merten.  The Meaning of Meanness: Popularity, Competition, and Conflict among Junior High School Girls. , 1997 .

[12]  J. Hughes,et al.  The role of relational aggression in identifying aggressive boys and girls. , 1998 .

[13]  Marion K. Underwood,et al.  Top ten challenges for understanding gender and aggression in children: Why can't we all just get along? , 2001 .

[14]  T. Dishion,et al.  Antisocial boys and their friends in early adolescence: relationship characteristics, quality, and interactional process. , 1995, Child development.

[15]  P. Lachenbruch.  Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.) , 1989 .

[16]  Donna Eder,et al.  The Cycle of Popularity: Interpersonal Relations among Female Adolescents. , 1985 .

[17]  A. Pellegrini,et al.  Dominance in Early Adolescent Boys: Affiliative and Aggressive Dimensions and Possible Functions , 2001 .

[18]  Kathryn M. LaFontana,et al.  The Nature of Children's Stereotypes of Popularity , 2001 .

[19]  J. H. Steiger.  Tests for comparing elements of a correlation matrix. , 1980 .

[20]  B. Schneider,et al.  Relational aggression, gender, and peer acceptance: invariance across culture, stability over time, and concordance among informants. , 1997, Developmental psychology.

[21]  R. Cairns,et al.  The development of social aggression and physical aggression: A narrative analysis of interpersonal conflicts , 2002 .

[22]  Patricia A. Adler,et al.  Socialization to Gender Roles: Popularity among Elementary School Boys and Girls. , 1992 .

[23]  D. Olweus,et al.  Stability of aggressive reaction patterns in males: a review. , 1979, Psychological bulletin.

[24]  K. Dodge,et al.  Dimensions and types of social status: A cross-age perspective. , 1982 .

[25]  Antonius H. N. Cillessen,et al.  Sociometric status and peer group behavior: Previous findings and current directions. , 2004 .

[26]  S. West,et al.  Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions. , 1994 .

[27]  R. Cairns,et al.  Aggression in Inner-City Early Elementary Classrooms: Individual and Peer-Group Configurations , 2002 .

[28]  Judith D. Singer,et al.  Fitting individual growth models using SAS PROC MIXED. , 2002 .

[29]  Donna Eder,et al.  School Talk: Gender and Adolescent Culture , 1995 .

[30]  W. Shadish,et al.  Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Generalized Causal Inference , 2001 .

[31]  Kathryn M. LaFontana,et al.  Children's perceptions of popular and unpopular peers: a multimethod assessment. , 2002, Developmental psychology.

[32]  R. Cairns,et al.  Aggressive Behaviors in Social Interaction and Developmental Adaptation: A Narrative Analysis of Interpersonal Conflicts During Early Adolescence , 2002 .

[33]  B. Byrne.  Structural equation modeling with EQS : basic concepts, applications, and programming , 2000 .

[34]  Aileen B. Sedman,et al.  A longitudinal study , 1987 .

[35]  N. Crick,et al.  Gender differences in children's normative beliefs about aggression: how do I hurt thee? Let me count the ways. , 1996, Child development.

[36]  N. Crick,et al.  Relational aggression, gender, and social-psychological adjustment. , 1995, Child development.

[37]  T. Farmer,et al.  Antisocial and Prosocial Correlates of Classroom Social Positions: The Social Network Centrality Perspective , 1996 .

[38]  A. Pellegrini,et al.  A longitudinal study of bullying, dominance, and victimization during the transition from primary school through secondary school , 2002 .

[39]  Kathryn M. LaFontana,et al.  Children's Interpersonal Perceptions as a Function of Sociometric and Peer-Perceived Popularity , 1999 .

[40]  K. Markon,et al.  Childhood aggression and gender: a new look at an old problem. , 1998, Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation.

[41]  T. Farmer,et al.  Deviant or Diverse Peer Groups? The Peer Affiliations of Aggressive Elementary Students. , 2002 .

[42]  Patricia H. Hawley,et al.  The Ontogenesis of Social Dominance: A Strategy-Based Evolutionary Perspective , 1999 .

[43]  K. Dodge,et al.  The relation between behavior problems and peer preference in different classroom contexts. Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. , 1999, Child development.

[44]  R. Cairns,et al.  Lifelines and Risks: Pathways of Youth in our Time , 1994 .

[45]  N. Crick,et al.  The role of overt aggression, relational aggression, and prosocial behavior in the prediction of children's future social adjustment. , 1996, Child development.

[46]  T. Farmer,et al.  Heterogeneity of popular boys: antisocial and prosocial configurations. , 2000, Developmental psychology.