title: What makes a girl (or a boy) popular (or unpopular)? African American children's perceptions and developmental differences.
abstract: Open-ended questions were used to obtain narrative accounts of what makes a girl (or a boy) popular (or unpopular) at school. The participants were 489 African American students in Grades 1, 4, and 7 recruited from high-risk inner-city neighborhoods. Appearance and self-presentation were mentioned the most in Grades 4 and 7. Prosocial characteristics were especially relevant for popularity in Grade 1, as were studentship in Grade 4 and peer affiliations in Grade 7. Deviant behaviors were nominated for popularity more frequently in Grade 7 than in the younger grades and more for boys' popularity than for girls'. The mean deviance scores were negative in all grade levels, suggesting a normative peer culture. Male groups in Grade 7 showed significant homophily in reports of deviant behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA. hongling.xie@temple.edu
authors.forename: Hongling
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Signe M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Boucher
authors.forename: Bryan C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Hutchins
authors.forename: Beverley D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Cairns
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D004291:Dominance-Subordination; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D018187:Personal Construct Theory; D010553:Personality Development; D011204:Poverty Areas; D011610:Psychosocial Deprivation; D012737:Sex Factors; D012928:Social Desirability; D012938:Social Perception; D012944:Social Support; D014505:Urban Population; D001741:Black or African American