title: The role of popularity goal in early adolescents' behaviors and popularity status.
abstract: The effect of popularity goal on the use of 3 popularity-related behaviors and later popularity status was examined in a diverse sample of 314 6th-grade students (176 girls and 138 boys) in both fall (Time 1) and spring (Time 2) semesters. Popularity goal and the use of popularity-driven behaviors (e.g., "I change the way I dress in order to be more popular") were assessed by self-report survey items (Time 1). Physical aggression, social aggression (Time 1), and perceived popularity (Times 1 and 2) were assessed by peer nominations. Popularity goal was positively associated with popularity-driven behaviors, social aggression, and physical aggression. There was a significant interaction effect between popularity goal and popularity status on the use of concurrent social aggression at Time 1; a higher popularity goal was associated with greater usage of social aggression for high-popular adolescents. Popularity goal alone did not predict popularity status change at Time 2; rather, greater use of social aggression at Time 1 was associated with higher Time 2 popularity status for initially high-popular adolescents who had a high-popularity goal and for initially low-popular adolescents who had a low-popularity goal. A similar 3-way interaction effect was found for physical aggression. Results suggest that the adolescents' goal for popularity may help us better understand the functions of aggressive and popularity-driven behaviors in peer social networks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University.
authors.forename: Molly
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dawes
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University.
authors.forename: Hongling
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D057566:Self Report; D012928:Social Desirability