What makes a girl (or a boy) popular (or unpopular)? African American children's perceptions and developmental differences.
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.
Xie
Hongling
H
Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA. hongling.xie@temple.edu
Li
Yan
Y
Boucher
Signe M
SM
Hutchins
Bryan C
BC
Cairns
Beverley D
BD
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