Peer Liking Research Articles

Examining the components of children's peer liking as antecedents of school adjustment

Children's social interactions with their peers influence their psychosocial adjustment; consequently, the relationship between class-wide peer liking, same-gender peer liking, and school adjustment was explored in two age groups. Peer liking was analysed using the social relations model (SRM). In Study 1, 205 children (103 female and 102 male, M(age) = 7.15, SD= 7 months) completed measures of peer liking and school adjustment, and teachers completed the Short-Form Teacher Rating Scale of School Adjustment (Short-Form TRSSA). In Study 2, 197 children (98 female and 90 male, M(age) = 9.87, SD= 5.9 months) completed measures of peer liking and school adjustment. Both studies yielded evidence of reciprocal liking and individual differences in the ratings of liking awarded to, and elicited from, both peer groups. Multigroup path analysis, with groups created according to gender, revealed that elements of liking predicted different aspects of school adjustment with some variation according to age and gender. Together, these findings suggest that the SRM can be used to examine peer liking and underscore the importance of children's peers for school adjustment.

Models of Emotion Skills and Social Competence in the Head Start Classroom

Research Findings: Fostering the social competence of at-risk preschoolers would be facilitated by knowing which of children's emotion skills are most salient to social outcomes. We examined the emotion skills and social competence of 44 children enrolled in a Head Start program. Emotion skills were examined in terms of children's emotional lability and emotion regulation, whereas social competence was measured in terms of three aspects of preschoolers' social relationships: social skills, student–teacher relationships, and peer likeability. Although emotion regulation emerged as an important predictor for social skills and positive relationships with teachers, emotional lability was a significant predictor of student–teacher conflict and peer likeability. In fact, emotional lability mediated the relation between student–teacher conflict and peer likeability. Practice or Policy: The findings are discussed in terms of the complex associations between children's emotion skills and early social relationships.

Reciprocal effects of student–teacher and student–peer relatedness: Effects on academic self efficacy

This study investigated the reciprocal effects between teacher–student relationship quality (TSRQ) and two dimensions of classroom peer relatedness, peer liking and peer academic reputation (PAR), across three years in elementary school and the effect of both TSRQ and the peer relatedness dimensions on academic self efficacy. Participants were 695 relatively low achieving, ethnically diverse students recruited into the longitudinal study when they were in the first grade. Measures of TSRQ and peer relatedness were assessed in years/grades 2–4. Peer liking and PAR were moderately correlated with each other at each time period. As expected, peer liking and TSRQ exhibited bidirectional effects across the three years. Year 3 TSRQ had an effect on Year 4 PAR, but PAR did not have an effect on TSRQ at either time interval. In an additional analysis, Year 4 PAR mediated the effect of Year 3 TSRQ on Year 5 academic self efficacy. Implications for teacher professional development are discussed.

Earn Yo’ Respect! Respect in the Status Struggle of Finnish School Boys

What is respect among school boys and how can it be earned? Reaching across disciplines, this article contends that respect is a dimension of status in the context of masculinities in peer relations, as are peer likeability and power positions. Drawing on longitudinal interviews and observational material, the authors scrutinize violence, physicality, materiality, and performances, exploring how school boys use these resources strategically to gain respect and to affect power relations. The authors conceptualize respect further, suggesting that respect among school boys refers not only to peer likeability but to a self-oriented stance tied to power and masculine veneration. This research aims to dig deeply into the complexities of masculinities, status, and power; to openly subvert, change, and make room for ‘‘fair power’’ instead of ‘‘fear power’’ in schools.

Indonesian adolescents' spiritual and religious experiences and their longitudinal relations with socioemotional functioning.

The spirituality and religiosity of Indonesian Muslim adolescents were examined longitudinally as were the relations of spirituality and religiosity with (mal)adjustment. At Time 1 (T1), 959 seventh-grade Muslim adolescents were screened for selection of a sample; at Time 2 (T2), 183 eighth-grade adolescents participated; and at Time 3 (T3), 300 ninth-grade adolescents (164 new participants) participated. At T1, adolescents' peer likeability was assessed; at T2, adolescents' global and cognitive esteem were measured; and at T2 and T3, adolescents' (mal)adjustment, spirituality, and religiosity were assessed. Adolescents and parents rated aspects of (mal)adjustment, spirituality, and religiosity. Teachers also rated adolescents' (mal)adjustment. In general, we found that T2 spirituality and religiosity were positively related to T3 adjustment and negatively related to T3 maladjustment, although in panel models, support for prediction of outcomes from spirituality and religiosity was found only for loneliness and socially appropriate behavior. In addition, there was some evidence in the models that certain aspects of (mal)adjustment (self-esteem and social competence, and to a marginal degree, parent-rated internalizing problems and teacher-rated prosociality) predicted spirituality and religiosity longitudinally.

Early Childhood Behavioral Inhibition and Social and School Adjustment in Chinese Children: A 5‐Year Longitudinal Study

This study examined relations between early behavioral inhibition and social and school outcomes in Chinese children (N = 200). Data on behavioral inhibition were collected from a sample of 2-year-olds in China. Follow-up data on social behaviors, peer relationships, and school performance were collected from multiple sources at 7 years of age. Behavioral inhibition was found to be positively associated with later cooperative behavior, peer liking, perceived social integration, positive school attitudes, and school competence, and negatively associated with later learning problems. Highly inhibited toddlers were generally better adjusted than others in social and school areas in middle childhood. The results indicate the distinct functional meaning of behavioral inhibition in Chinese children from a developmental perspective.

Peer Victimization and Social Dominance as Intervening Variables of the Link Between Peer Liking and Relational Aggression

The current study examined social dominance and peer victimization as possible intervening and moderating variables of the association between peer liking and relational aggression because previous findings suggest that social dominance and peer victimization are important for predicting the acceptableness and success of aggression. A total of 367 5th- and 6th-grade students from Quebec, Canada, completed peer ratings of their classmates on measures of peer liking, relational aggression, social dominance, and peer victimization. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses demonstrated that peer victimization worked as a mediator and a moderator, such that victimization explained the link between peer liking and relational aggression, and that this association was only significant at high levels of peer victimization. Alternatively, social dominance worked as a suppressor, with the link between peer liking and relational aggression becoming stronger once social dominance was controlled in the multiple regression. Social dominance did not moderate the same association.

Depression as a longitudinal outcome and antecedent of preadolescents' peer relationships and peer-relevant cognition

Using longitudinal data and structural modeling, we investigated bidirectional associations among preadolescents' peer relationships, peer-relevant cognition, and depressive symptoms. Depression was expected to be an outcome and precursor of peer-relevant cognition, and cognition was expected to be an outcome and precursor of being more or less liked by classmates (peer likeability). We also examined whether cognition mediated the association between peer likeability and depression. Participants were 308 students (mean age = 11.0, SD = 0.9) who participated twice during a school year. A third assessment was completed with Grade 5 to 6 students 1 year after the second assessment. The model with bidirectional paths had a good fit to the data, but the most parsimonious model was an "effects" model showing that preadolescents with more depressive symptoms had less positive peer-relevant cognition at later assessments, and that those with more positive peer-relevant cognition were more liked by their peers over time. There were no age differences, some gender differences, and no support for cognition as a moderator of the association between depression and peer likeability.

The Role of Teacher Cognition and Behavior in Children’s Peer Relations

This study explored the role of the classroom teacher in peers' evaluations of liking and disliking of their classmates. Teacher cognitions about children (teacher liking of students, teacher attributions for aggressive student behavior) and teacher behavior toward children (positive, corrective/negative) were examined as mediators in the link between children's own behavior (aggression, prosocial behavior) and peer liking and disliking. Participants were 127 second-graders in 12 classrooms (64 males, 63 females). Data on child behavior were collected through peer and teacher report, data on teacher cognitions about children were collected through self report, data on teacher behavior toward children were collected through naturalistic classroom observations, and data on peer liking and disliking were collected through peer nominations. Data were analyzed using path analysis. Results indicated that teacher cognitions about children and corrective/negative teacher behavior toward children mediated the relations between aggressive and prosocial child behavior and peer disliking.

The relations of majority-minority group status and having an other-religion friend to Indonesian youths' socioemotional functioning.

In this study, the authors examined the relations of Indonesian adolescents' socioemotional functioning to their majority-minority status and the presence of cross-religion friendships and whether sex moderated these relations. At Time 1, 1,254 7th graders and their peers in Bandung, Indonesia, reported on their friendships, prosocial behavior, and peer likability; months later, a selected sample of 250 youths and their teachers and parents rated the youths' social functioning and (mal)adjustment. When controlling for socioeconomic status and initial sociometric status, girls were generally higher in measures of adjustment, whereas majority children were lower in externalizing problems and, for boys, loneliness. For minority children's social competence and prosocial behavior at school, there was evidence of a buffering effect of having a cross-religion friend.

Peer Perceptions and Liking of Children with Anxiety Disorders

Examined three aspects of childhood anxiety and peer liking: (1) whether or not children can detect anxiety in age-mates, (2) the degree to which peer-reported anxiety, self-reported anxiety, and presence of anxiety disorders are associated with peer liking, and (3) whether or not self-reported anxiety and presence of anxiety disorders are associated with peer liking after controlling for peer-reported anxiety. Peer raters (9.5-12.5 years) rated videotaped speech samples of target children with anxiety disorders (AD; 9.5-13 years) and target children without anxiety disorders (NAD; 9.5-13 years). Peer-rated anxiety was positively correlated with target children's self-reported anxiety and was higher among children with AD and children with social phobia (SP). Peer liking was inversely related to peer-reported anxiety and was lower for target children with SP. Target children with SP were liked less regardless of how anxious peers perceived them to be. Peer rater and target child demographics did not moderate the relationship between peer-rated anxiety and peer liking.

Peer status and behaviors of maltreated children and their classmates in the early years of school

Objective The aims of the present study were to investigate (1) whether young children with a known history of maltreatment by caregivers have more problematic peer relationships and classroom behaviors than other children, and (2) if children's behaviors with peers mediated associations between maltreatment and children's problem peer relations. Method Participants included 400 young children (ages 4–8, M age = 6.6), and 24 teachers in 22 schools. Six percent of children had a known history of maltreatment. Multiple methods (ratings and nominations) and reporters (children and teachers) were utilized to obtain information on peer relationships. Teachers reported children's physical/verbal aggression, and withdrawn and prosocial behaviors. Results Young children were able to nominate and rate whom they liked versus disliked in their classes, and their reports were modestly correlated with teacher reports. Regardless of the reporter, maltreated children were significantly more disliked, physically/verbally aggressive, withdrawn, and less prosocial, compared with their classmates. Among all children, physical/verbal aggression, withdrawal, and prosocial behavior were associated independently with some aspect of peer status. Maltreatment had indirect associations with peer likeability and peer rejection via maltreated children's relatively higher levels of physical/verbal aggression and, in some cases, withdrawal and relatively lower prosocial behavior. Maltreatment had an indirect association with teacher-reported peer acceptance via children's withdrawal. Conclusions Findings indirectly associate early family experiences with problems in peer relationships, especially lower peer likeability and more rejection, via children's behaviors with peers. The finding that linkages exist even in the very earliest years of school highlights the need for very early home- or school-based efforts focused on improving behavior and relationships of maltreated children and others children with similar profiles.

Aggression and social status: the moderating roles of sex and peer‐valued characteristics

AbstractResearch on peer rejection has long emphasized links between aggressive behavior and peer liking, with aggressive children and adolescents being more rejected by peers. However, recent research shows that at least some aggressive students enjoy considerable power and influence and are perceived as “popular” within the peer group. To understand the processes underlying links between aggression and social status, the present research considered three distinct indices of social status (social preference, perceived popularity, and power) and investigated the degree to which the possession of peer‐valued characteristics moderated the links between status and aggression and whether these links varied by sex. A sample of 585 adolescents (grades 6–10) completed peer evaluation measures assessing social status, aggression (overt/physical, indirect/relational), and the degree to which peers possessed eight different peer‐valued characteristics (e.g., attractiveness, athleticism, etc.). Although sociometric indices of status were significantly related to perceived popularity, especially for boys, perceptions of power were more strongly linked to perceived popularity than to sociometric likeability. Moreover, the three indices of social status were differentially related to peers' assessments of aggression and to peer‐valued characteristics, with notable sex differences. As predicted, regression analyses demonstrated that the observed relationships between social status and aggression were moderated by the possession of peer‐valued characteristics; aggressive students who possessed peer‐valued characteristics enjoyed higher levels of perceived popularity and power and less disliking than those who did not. This relationship varied as a function of sex, the type of aggression considered, and the status construct predicted. Aggr. Behav. 32:396–408, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Effects of the structure of classmates’ perceptions of peers’ academic abilities on children’s perceived cognitive competence, peer acceptance, and engagement

This study examined the effects of classroom indegree for ability (the degree to which peer nominations as academically capable show high consensus and focus on a relatively few number of children in a classroom) on first grade children’s peer acceptance, teacher-rated classroom engagement, and self-perceived cognitive competence. Participants were 291 children located in 84 classrooms. Participating in sociometric interviews were 937 classmates. Consistent with social comparison theory, classroom indegree moderated the associations between children’s achievement and classroom engagement and peer liking. Children with lower ability, relative to their classmates, were less accepted by peers and less engaged in classrooms in which students’ perceptions of classmates’ abilities converged on a relatively few number of students than in classrooms in which peers’ perceptions were more dispersed. High indegree was associated with lower self-perceived cognitive competence regardless of ability level.

Adolescent girls' and boys' weight-related health behaviors and cognitions: Associations with reputation- and preference-based peer status.

In this study, the authors examined associations between preference- and reputation-based peer status and weight-related behaviors and cognitions for both adolescent boys and girls. Sociometric measures of peer like-ability and peer-perceived popularity, as well as self-reported measures of body size, dieting behavior, and weight-related cognitions were collected from a sample of 441 adolescents in Grades 11 and 12. Results revealed weight-related cognitions for girls (concerning obesity) and boys (concerning musculature/fitness). Peer-perceived popularity, but not like-ability, was significantly associated with both boys' and girls' body size and dieting. Lower levels of popularity were associated with heavier body shapes for girls and with both thin and heavier body shapes for boys. Findings suggest that peer status is an important source of social reinforcement associated with weight-related behaviors and cognitions.

The Relationship Between Relational Aggression in Kindergarten Children and Friendship Stability, Mutuality, and Peer Liking

The current study examined relational aggression in kindergarten children and how it relates to aspects of their friendships over a 2-month period. Participants were 74 boys and girls (ages 5 and 6). Teacher report and peer nominations assessed relational and physical aggression. Children also rated each child in their class on liking and identified their friends. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that peer nominations of relational aggression were negatively related to Time 1 liking, Time 1 number of mutual friends, and friendship stability even when teacher ratings of physical aggression were controlled. Physical aggression was also significantly related to these variables. Relational aggression (but not physical aggression) significantly predicted declines in the number of mutual friendships and liking two months later.

The longitudinal relations of regulation and emotionality to quality of Indonesian children's socioemotional functioning.

Data regarding individual differences in children's regulation, emotionality, quality of socioemotional functioning, and shyness were obtained from teachers and peers for 112 Indonesian 6th graders. Similar data (plus parents' reports) also were collected when these children were in 3rd grade. For boys, regulation and low negative emotionality generally predicted positive socioemotional functioning (e.g., social skills, adjustment, prosocial tendencies and peer liking, sympathy) within and across time and across reporters, even at the follow-up when initial levels of regulation or negative emotionality were controlled. For girls, relations were obtained primarily for concurrent teacher reports, probably because girls tended to be fairly well regulated and socially competent and variability in their scores was relatively low. Shyness for both sexes tended to be associated with concurrent measures of low regulation, high negative emotionality, and low quality of social competence.

Predicting kindergarten peer social status from toddler and preschool problem behavior.

The aim of this study was to investigate the toddler and preschool predictors of early peer social preference. Behavioral and social functioning were examined in a sample of children across the toddler and preschool years from parent and teacher observations. Kindergarten social behavior and peer social preference were assessed in the children's kindergarten classrooms using standard sociometric techniques. Results indicated that parent report of toddler externalizing behavior and teacher report of preschool problem behavior, as indexed by aggressive behavior, social skills, and emotional regulation, were predictive of peer liking in kindergarten. However, this relation was mediated by specific behaviors evidenced in the kindergarten classroom. For boys, overt aggression mediated these relations. For girls, sharing and engaging in sneaky behavior in kindergarten mediated the relation between preschool problem behaviors and peer status. These results indicate that specific behaviors displayed in the peer group account for the relation between early problem behavior and peer status. Moreover, these data point to the importance of considering gender when examining developmental trajectories and outcomes.

Perceived Creativity: Its Relationship to Social Status and Self-Concept Among ChineseHigh Ability Children

This study examined the connection between children's perceived creativity and their social status and self-concept. Results from a group of high ability Chinese grade school children showed that peer-perceived creativity tended to associate positively with sociability-leadership, but at the same time, also positively with aggressive-disruptive and sensitive-isolated. It was also found to relate positively with peer liking of Like-Least and social impact, but somewhat negatively with social preference. Surprisingly, peer-perceived creativity was associated negatively with self-concept. With respect to group leader-perceived creativity, a similar pattern of relationships was found. Results from regression analysis showed that sociability-leadership was more predictive of peer-perceived creativity, whereas aggressive-disruptive was more predictive of group leader perceived creativity. These contrasting associations seemed to unveil different characteristics of a creative child in terms of social and self-perception.

Building Relationships and Combating Bullying:Effectiveness of a School-Based Social Skills Group Intervention

This study tested the efficacy of a generic social skills intervention, Social Skills GRoup INtervention (S.S.GRIN), for children experiencing peer dislike, bullying, or social anxiety. Third-grade children were randomly assigned to treatment (n = 187) or no-treatment control (CO; n = 194) groups. Examination of the direction and magnitude of change in functioning revealed that S.S.GRIN increased peer liking, enhanced self-esteem and self-efficacy, and decreased social anxiety compared to controls. S.S.GRIN was equally efficacious for all subtypes of peer problems targeted. Particular benefits were found for aggressive children who showed greater declines in aggression and bullying behavior and fewer antisocial affiliations than aggressive control participants. Discussion focuses on the benefits of heterogeneous versus homogeneous groups of participants and the potential value of utilizing generic social skills training protocols.