Social goals moderate the associations between peer status and behavior in middle school

Abstract

AbstractThis study investigated the associations among popularity, agentic and communal social goals, and overt and relational aggression in adolescence, with a focus on social goals as moderators of the association between aggression and popularity. Three hundred eighteen sixth‐, seventh‐, and eighth‐grade students completed a sociometric assessment of overt and relational aggression, prosocial behavior, and popularity, and the Interpersonal Goals Inventory for Children (IGI‐C; Ojanen, Grönroos, & Salmivalli, Developmental Psychology, 41(5), 699–710, 2005). Endorsing agentic goals moderated the association between popularity and both overt aggression and prosocial behavior. Adolescents who were both popular and who endorsed agentic goals were particularly high in overt aggression and prosocial behavior. Communal goals also moderated the popularity‐aggression link, but in different ways depending on the type of aggression being analyzed. We also found evidence that, among adolescents who endorse both types of goals, agentic goals may overshadow communal values. Some of these interactions were further qualified by gender.