title: The association between valuing popularity and relational aggression: the moderating effects of actual popularity and physiological reactivity to exclusion.
abstract: The association between having a reputation for valuing popularity and relational aggression was assessed in a sample of 126 female children and adolescents (mean age = 12.43 years) at a 54-day residential summer camp for girls. Having a reputation for valuing popularity was positively related to relational aggression. This association was moderated by both popularity and physiological reactivity to social exclusion (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity [RSAR] and heart rate reactivity [HRR]). Popular girls with a reputation for valuing popularity were at greater risk for engaging in relational aggression when they also exhibited blunted reactivity to social exclusion. Conversely, girls who had a reputation for valuing popularity but were not popular (i.e., the "wannabes") were at risk for engaging in relational aggression when they exhibited heightened reactivity to exclusion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA. erin.shoulberg@uvm.edu
authors.forename: Erin K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Shoulberg
authors.forename: Jelle J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Sijtsema
authors.forename: Dianna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Murray-Close
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D001143:Arousal; D002648:Child; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response; D006339:Heart Rate; D006608:Hierarchy, Social; D006801:Humans; D012059:Rejection, Psychology; D012925:Social Conformity; D012928:Social Desirability; D012933:Social Identification; D012963:Sociometric Techniques