Associations of Early Adolescents’ Best Friendships, Peer Groups, and Coolness With Overt and Relational Aggression

This study examined associations of best friend and peer group aggressive characteristics with students’ overt and relational aggression, and whether coolness moderated these associations across the fall and spring of the first year in middle school. Students ( N = 174; 57% females) self-reported best friendship and peer group members, as well as peer-nominated coolness and aggression (overt, relational). Results indicated positive relations of best friend and peer group aggressive characteristics with subsequent aggression, and that coolness moderated these associations. Specifically, non-cool youth had higher levels of subsequent overt and relational aggression with aggressive best friends, but lower levels of later relational aggression when in relationally aggressive peer groups. In contrast, cool youth had lower levels of subsequent relational aggression with relationally aggressive best friends, but higher levels of later relational aggression when in relationally aggressive peer groups. Implications for examining multiple peer contexts and coolness during early adolescence are discussed.

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Social networks and aggressive behaviour in Chinese children

International Journal of Behavioral Development ◽

10.1080/01650250444000090 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 28 (5) ◽

pp. 401-410 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Yiyuan Xu ◽

Jo Ann M. Farver ◽

David Schwartz ◽

Lei Chang

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Aggressive Behaviour ◽

Peer Group ◽

Peer Groups ◽

Group Affiliation ◽

School Students ◽

Mainland Chinese ◽

Group Members ◽

Peer Preference ◽

Aggressive Children

This exploratory study investigated Mainland Chinese children’s social networks and peer group affiliations with a particular emphasis on their aggressive behaviour. The participants were 294 elementary school students in Tianjin, P. R. China (mean age 11.5 years; 161 boys). Social network analysis identified relatively large and gender-specific peer groups. Although different measures were used, the pattern of homophily characteristic of Western aggressive children was partially supported. This finding may be due to the large size of the peer groups. The results showed that some aggressive children formed friendships with nonaggressive children. Moreover, for the aggressive children who were group members, the number of within-group friendships moderated the relation between aggression and overall peer preference. In addition, despite the moderating effect of within-group friendship, the relation between aggression and peer preference remained significantly negative even at the highest levels of friendship. Aggressive children who were isolated from all peer groups had higher hyperactivity ratings and were less liked by peers than were aggressive children who were group members. These findings illustrate how culture may be an influence on patterns of peer group affiliation.

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Unpacking the misfit effect: Exploring the influence of gender and social norms on the association between aggression and peer victimization

International Journal of Behavioral Development ◽

10.1177/0165025421992867 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 016502542199286

Author(s):

Ellyn Charlotte Bass ◽

Lina Maria Saldarriaga ◽

Ana Maria Velasquez ◽

Jonathan B. Santo ◽

William M. Bukowski

Keyword(s):

Social Norms ◽

Peer Victimization ◽

Relational Aggression ◽

Peer Relationships ◽

Peer Group ◽

Peer Groups ◽

Well Being ◽

Self Report ◽

Social Regulation ◽

Adolescent Peer Groups

Social norms are vital for the functioning of adolescent peer groups; they can protect the well-being of groups and individual members, often by deterring harmful behaviors, such as aggression, through enforcement mechanisms like peer victimization; in adolescent peer groups, those who violate aggression norms are often subject to victimization. However, adolescents are nested within several levels of peer group contexts, ranging from small proximal groups, to larger distal groups, and social norms operate within each. This study assessed whether there are differences in the enforcement of aggression norms at different levels. Self-report and peer-nomination data were collected four times over the course of a school year from 1,454 early adolescents ( M age = 10.27; 53.9% boys) from Bogota, Colombia. Multilevel modeling provided support for social regulation of both physical aggression and relational aggression via peer victimization, as a function of gender, grade-level, proximal (friend) or distal (class) injunctive norms of aggression (perceptions of group-level attitudes), and descriptive norms of aggression. Overall, violation of proximal norms appears to be more powerfully enforced by adolescent peer groups. The findings are framed within an ecological systems theory of adolescent peer relationships.

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School University Consortium to Enhance General Certificate Student’s Prospective and Academic Performance in Palestine

Modern Applied Science ◽

10.5539/mas.v15n2p1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

Derar Eleyan ◽

Muath Sabha ◽

Amna Eleyan ◽

Jaafar Abu Saa

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Academic Performance ◽

Active Role ◽

Smooth Transition ◽

First Year ◽

School Students ◽

University Teachers ◽

Group Members ◽

First Year University

This paper introduces a conceptual platform for bringing students and teachers together in a social media consortium. The results extracted from the questionnaire used in this paper exhibits that the majority of the students support and are eager to see this idea live and willing to play an active role and show full commitment. This consortium encompasses students and teachers from both school and university. This platform prepares the students, fosters and enables them to a smooth transition from school to university, as well as improving the students’ communication skills and academic performance by using mentoring, tutoring and coaching techniques. As a case study of social media, Facebook was used as a communication and interactive tool amongst group members. The theme behind this platform is to construct academic group from final year school students with first year university students to exchange experience and transfer knowledge. This group has school teachers as well as university teachers. Each group has a mentor, coach and tutor. Each of them will play a specific role throughout the group, which will be highlighted in this paper. The outcomes were useful and interesting for students, their parents and teachers involved. It was a great experiment and recommended to widen it to involve more students and teachers.

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The Role of Peer Groups in Male and Female Adolescents' Task Values and Physical Activity

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/05.10.11.17.pr0.108.1.75-93 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 108 (1) ◽

pp. 75-93 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Sami Yli-Piipari ◽

Timo Jaakkola ◽

Jarmo Liukkonen ◽

Noona Kiuru ◽

Anthony Watt

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Physical Education ◽

Peer Group ◽

Peer Groups ◽

Female Adolescents ◽

Spring Semester ◽

Task Values ◽

Group Members ◽

One Year

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the role of peer groups and sex in adolescents' task values and physical activity. The participants were 330 Finnish Grade 6 students (173 girls, 157 boys), who responded to questionnaires that assessed physical education task values during the spring semester (Time 1). Students' physical activity was assessed one year later (Time 2). The results indicated that adolescent peer groups were moderately homogeneous in terms of task values toward physical education and physical activity. Girls' peer groups were more homogeneous than those of boys in regards to utility and attainment values. Furthermore, the results for both girls and boys showed that particularly intrinsic task value typical for the peer group predicted group members' physical activity. The findings highlight the important role of peer group membership as a determinant of future physical activity.

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Sex and Gender as Factors in in Romantic Partnerships and Best Friendships

Journal of Relationships Research ◽

10.1017/jrr.2013.8 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Anna Machin ◽

Robin Dunbar

Keyword(s):

Assortative Mating ◽

Romantic Partner ◽

Sex And Gender ◽

Positive Illusion ◽

Same Sex ◽

Best Friend ◽

Best Friends ◽

Show Evidence ◽

Best Friendships ◽

Mating Market

For the majority of people, two key non-kin figures form part of the central support clique that resides at the centre of their social network. These are the best friend and the romantic partner, and both play distinct roles which are of benefit to the individual concerned. However, while the romantic partner will always have been chosen in the context of the mating market, we do not know whether the selection of a best friend occurs within a similar market of competition and assessment. This study used real self-rated attribute data for participants and their best friends and romantic partners to explore: (1) whether best friendships operate within a mating market; (2) whether, once established, they show evidence for positive illusion, projection or competition; and (3) whether assortative mating is present. Further, we considered whether the sex of the best friend relative to the participant influences these results. We found that same-sex best friends have an acknowledged role linked to social connectedness and behaviour, that for same-sex best friends both male and female participants show evidence for homophily or projection rather than mate competition, that neither male nor female participants appear to view cross-sex best friends as potential mates, and that the evidence for ‘assortative mating’ is stronger within best friendships than romantic partnerships regardless of best friend sex. Our results imply that despite a culture of commitment and monogamy, male participants display behaviours within their romantic partnerships which suggest they are still active within the mating market. In contrast, for both sexes the best friendship is unaffected by the mating market and the stability and contentment that characterises best friendships is underpinned by a degree of similarity stronger than that within the romantic partnership.

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Participant Recruitment Challenges in Researching Peer Groups and Migration Retrospectively

Przegląd Socjologii Jakościowej ◽

10.18778/1733-8069.13.4.04 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 48-69

Author(s):

Paula Pustułka ◽

Natalia Juchniewicz ◽

Izabela Grabowska

Keyword(s):

Longitudinal Study ◽

Large Scale ◽

Peer Group ◽

Peer Groups ◽

Participant Recruitment ◽

Know How ◽

Recruitment Challenges ◽

Group Members ◽

And Migration

This paper discusses the challenges of researching peer groups through a multi-focal, temporal lens in a retrospective manner. Embedded in a broader “Peer Groups & Migration” Qualitative Longitudinal Study (QLS), the article focuses on recruiting young respondents (aged 19-34 at present) who originally come from one of the three medium-sized towns in Polish localities and are either migrants or stayers connected to mobile individuals. The respondents are tracked retrospectively and asked to discuss their adolescence, as well encouraged to provide contacts to their youth Peer Group members. Based on fieldwork experiences and field access challenges, four models of recruiting migrants’ high school peer groups are presented. Furthermore, variants and rationales of non-recruitment are also provided. Focusing on the process of establishing a long-term and large-scale peer panel in the QLS, the paper contributes detailed know-how and strategies around participant recruitment.

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Relational and overt aggression in urban India

International Journal of Behavioral Development ◽

10.1177/0165025411426019 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 36 (2) ◽

pp. 107-116 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Julie C. Bowker ◽

Jamie M. Ostrov ◽

Radhi Raja

Keyword(s):

Relational Aggression ◽

Early Adolescence ◽

Social Preference ◽

Upper Class ◽

Overt Aggression ◽

Perceived Popularity ◽

Best Friend ◽

Best Friends ◽

Urban India ◽

Insight Into

This study explored the associations between relational and overt aggression and social status, and tested whether the peer correlates of aggression vary as a function of best friends’ aggression during early adolescence in urban India. One hundred and ninety-four young adolescents from primarily middle-to-upper-class families in Surat, India participated. Analyses revealed unique associations between both forms of aggression and perceived popularity, and between relational aggression and social preference. The consideration of best friend aggression (and in one case, gender) explained some variability in the associations between both forms of aggression and the peer correlates, suggesting that the consideration of best friends’ aggression, particularly in complex and changing non-Western societies such as India, may lead to new insight into why not all aggressive adolescents are disliked and popular.

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Expectations for cross-ethnic inclusion by Asian American children and adolescents

Group Processes & Intergroup Relations ◽

10.1177/1368430219851854 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 23 (5) ◽

pp. 664-683

Author(s):

Aline Hitti ◽

Laura Elenbaas ◽

Jee Young Noh ◽

Michael T. Rizzo ◽

Shelby Cooley ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Children And Adolescents ◽

Asian American ◽

Peer Group ◽

Peer Groups ◽

Group Members ◽

American Children ◽

Prejudicial Attitudes ◽

Peer Contexts

Asian American youth’s inclusion decisions were investigated in cross-ethnic peer contexts (Asian and non-Asian). Ten-, 13-, and 16-year-old participants ( N = 134), enrolled in U.S. schools, decided whether to include a same-ethnic peer with different interests or a different-ethnic peer with similar interests. Findings showed that with age, participants more frequently included a peer who shared interests even when this peer was not of the same ethnicity. Participants expected their peer groups to be equally inclusive of others of both ethnic backgrounds, and expected that in-group parents would be less inclusive of cross-ethnic peers. In addition, adolescents expected parents to have prejudicial attitudes about ethnic out-group members. Views about peer group and in-group parents’ inclusivity diverged from adolescents’ own inclusivity. These findings point to areas for intervention regarding the promotion of cross-group friendships and the reduction of prejudice.

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A cross-cultural analysis of the relations of physical and relational aggression with peer victimization

International Journal of Behavioral Development ◽

10.1177/0165025416677846 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 42 (1) ◽

pp. 132-142 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Ellyn Charlotte Bass ◽

Lina Saldarriaga ◽

Josafa Cunha ◽

Bin-Bin Chen ◽

Jonathan Bruce Santo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Peer Victimization ◽

Relational Aggression ◽

Physical Aggression ◽

Peer Group ◽

Peer Groups ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Theoretical Understanding ◽

National Differences ◽

The Relationship ◽

Cross National

To better address the many consequences of peer victimization, research must identify not only aspects of individuals that put them at risk for victimization, such as aggression, but also aspects of the context that influence the extent of that risk. To this end, this study examined the contextual influences of gender, same-sex peer group norms of physical and relational aggression, and nationality on the associations of physical and relational aggression with peer victimization in early adolescents from Canada, China, Brazil, and Colombia ( N = 865; Mage = 11.01, SD = 1.24; 55% boys). Structural equation modeling was used to test for measurement invariance of the latent constructs. Multilevel modeling revealed that both forms of aggression were positive predictors of peer victimization, but physical aggression was a stronger predictor for girls than boys. Cross-national differences emerged in levels of peer victimization, such that levels were highest in Brazil and lowest in Colombia. Cross-national differences were also evidenced in the relationship between relational aggression and victimization: the relationship was positive in China, Brazil, and Canada (listed in descending order of magnitude), but negative in Colombia. Above and beyond the cross-national differences, physical aggression was a stronger predictor of victimization in peer groups low in physical aggression, and relational aggression was a stronger predictor in peer groups low in relational aggression. Ultimately, this research is intended to contribute to a better theoretical understanding of risk factors for peer victimization and the development of more effective and culturally-appropriate prevention and intervention efforts.

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