Suchergebnisse

AbstractThe present study addresses the influence that group norms exert on individual aggressive and prosocial behavior. The study hypothesis is that for early adolescents who change their peer group affiliations, the characteristics of the group they are leaving (departing‐group influence) are not as influential as those of the group that they are joining (attracting‐group influence). From a larger sample of fifth and sixth graders who were followed over a one‐year period, 198 early adolescents were identified as those who changed peer group affiliations. Peer nominations on aggression, prosociality, social preference and popularity, and social network information were collected. Results confirmed that there were significant attracting‐ but not departing‐group influences on aggression and prosociality. Expected associations between aggression, prosocial behavior, and social status were confirmed. The discussion is framed around a social‐ecological perspective that emphasizes the short‐term adaptive nature of aggressive behavior in some peer groups and the need for considering social mobility when assessing group influence on individual behavior.

AbstractThis study compares three variations in how researchers construct middle childhood social networks: (1) with friendships or affiliations as a relational tie; (2) with children providing self reports of relationships, or in addition, multi‐informant reports of relationships in which they are not involved; and (3) whether network computation is correlational or distance‐based. The sample was 357 fourth‐ and fifth‐grade students in 17 classrooms. The strongest differences were between self‐reported friendship and affiliative networks. Results showed that compared with affiliations, friendship networks had smaller groups, more isolates, and lower fall‐to‐spring stability. Agreement in social placement between friendship and affiliative networks was generally average, but poor for unpopular and aggressive children. Multi‐informant affiliative networks were most robust in their positioning of aggressive children. Multi‐informant centrality was uniquely uncorrelated with aggression. Network computation differences were not substantial. Discussion focuses on recommendations for research and the educational promise of network technology.

AbstractWe explore relations between social network centrality and behavioral characteristics. Elementary school students nominated classmates for aggressivity, disruptiveness, popularity, studiousness, leadership, cooperativeness, athleticism, and shyness. Students had 1 of 4 levels of network centrality (i.e., nuclear, secondary, peripheral, isolated) and were in 1 of 4 educational classifications (i.e., academically gifted, emotionally and behaviorally disordered, general education, learning disabled). Across educational classifications for both boys and girls, nuclear students were athletic, cooperative, leaders, popular, and studious relative to lower centrality students. However, antisocial characteristics were associated with lower centrality for girls only. Aggressive behavior was positively associated with nuclear centrality for general education boys. Findings are considered in relation to sociometric status research and implications of the role of social network centrality in the establishment and maintenance of antisocial behavior are discussed.

This study assessed the similarity of adolescents and their friends and peer network associates in religiosity and the extent to which these relationships were associated with antisocial behavior. The sample included 1010 Indonesian (480 male, 530 female) 8th (13.37 years) and 10th grade (15.36 years) students. Adolescents were similar to their mutual friends and network associates (identified using Social Cognitive Mapping) in religiosity, and the religiosity of both friends and network associates added to male adolescents' self‐religiosity in predicting antisocial behavior; these effects were not present for girls. Peers may associate with others similar to themselves in religiosity and these associations may partially explain why religious boys exhibit low levels of aggressive behavior.

This study investigates friendship selection and influence processes in relation to popularity, aggression, and prosociality among 613 fifth graders in 26 classrooms within one academic year. Results showed that youth tended to select their friends based on similarity in popularity more than similarity in aggression or prosociality. Aggressive youths tended to select prosocial peers as friends given similarity in popularity, but prosocial youths did not disproportionately nominate aggressive peers. Socialization within friendships was evident for aggressive and prosocial behavior and popularity. Discussion considers the importance of social status as a grouping mechanism in peer social ecologies, and as a malleable factor that can impact student adjustment.