Longitudinal Investigation of the Associations Between Adolescents’ Popularity and Cyber Social Behaviors

As adolescents become increasingly immersed in electronic technologies, popular adolescents may act in similar ways online as they do offline. This longitudinal study employed peer nominations and self-reports to examine perceived popularity and social preference in relation to cyber social behaviors among 256 adolescents during the fall (T1) and spring (T2). Linear associations were found between T1 popularity types (i.e., perceived popularity, social preference) and T2 cyber prosocial behavior. On the other hand, both linear and curvilinear associations were found between T1 popularity types and T2 cyber aggression. In particular, T2 cyber aggression was elevated at higher levels of T1 perceived popularity and lower levels of T1 social preference. Taken together, these findings suggest that the relations between both popularity types and cyber social behaviors follow similar patterns as face-to-face social behaviors.

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