Sociometric Measures Research Articles

Impact of Significant Dyads on Dominance Indices in Pigs.

Simple SummaryInformation about the real dominance status of an animal is important to prevent misinterpretations about the social structure in animal groups. Thus, “one fight, won more” must not be interpreted as being dominant. Here, significant dyads help to answer the question of whether one animal is definitely dominant over another, and to clearly evaluate the social hierarchy within a group of animals. In the present study, two calculation methods for the determination of significant dyads in pigs are proposed: on the pen level, i.e., taking all fights in the pen into account, and on the dyad level, i.e., each dyad is considered individually. In three mixing events (weaned piglets, fattening pigs, gilts) the impact of significant dyads on dominance indices was calculated. The number of significant dyads was low but the rank order between the two different methods remained stable. Comparing both of the proposed methods, limits should be calculated on pen level due to the higher flexibility. Thus, significant dyads can be also determined in pens with a low number of fights. Dominance indices are calculated by considering the differences between the number of won and lost fights. Whether these differences show a significant asymmetric outcome or not is neglected. Thus, two calculation methods for the limits of significant dyads are proposed using a sign test based on the differences in won and lost fights, considering all dyadic interactions in the pen (PEN: pen individual limits), and a sign test focusing on each individual dyad (DYAD: dyad individual limits). These were compared to the data set containing all dyadic interactions (ALL). Agonistic interactions in three mixing events were video recorded for two and a half days (weaned piglets) or one and a half days (fattening pigs, gilts). Dominance indices (DI) were calculated for all data sets. Pen/dyad individual limits revealed a small number of significant dyads (weaned piglets: 12.4%/8.8%; fattening pigs: 4.2%/0.6%; gilts: 3.6%/0.4%). Pen individual limits should be selected as they allow adaption of the limits according to the fighting frequency. Spearman rank correlation coefficients of the dominance indices between the data sets were always above 0.7, implying that the rank order remained relatively stable. Information about the impact of significant dyads on sociometric measures is important to prevent misinterpretations about the social structure in animal groups and should be considered in future studies.

Associations Between Different Aspects of Video Game Play Behavior and Adolescent Adjustment

Abstract. Playing video games during adolescence has been linked to both positive and negative outcomes, but it remains unclear which specific aspects of gaming behavior are associated with adjustment. The current study examines the association between distinct aspects of video game play behavior and adolescent adjustment. We focused on five aspects, namely, gaming frequency, the social context, gamer identification, type of game, and motivation for playing. Participants included 705 Dutch adolescents (33.5% female, Mage = 14.07), who completed a survey including self-report and sociometric measures. Results indicated that the frequency of playing games was not associated with adolescent adjustment. However, significant associations did appear for social context, genre of games, and motivation for playing. In addition, the different aspects of gaming showed both beneficial and deleterious relations with adjustment. This research indicates the importance of disaggregating gaming behavior and the necessity to look beyond frequency of play in order to fully understand the impact of gaming on youth.

Peer networks in the school-to-work transition

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate whether young people’s peer networks can be an asset in finding employment during the transition from school to work. It examines whether peer networks size and peers’ self-efficacy regarding their own job search are associated with job seekers’ career-relevant behaviors and outcomes, i.e., the number of applications completed and the number of job offers received.Design/methodology/approachAssociations between job seekers’ peer networks and their job search behaviors and outcomes were investigated during their final year of vocational training. Sociometric measures were used to assess young people’s peer network size. Sociometric and self-report measures were used to establish the characteristics of the peers that comprise each job seekers’ network, resulting in the overall self-efficacy across each job seekers’ network.FindingsThe results show that peers’ efficacy beliefs are positively associated with young people’s engagement in job search activities (i.e. a greater number of applications completed) and indirectly associated with their job search outcomes (i.e. a greater number of job offers, which are mediated by the number of applications) that are independent of the peer network size.Originality/valueThe results underline that although peers might not provide instrumental support, encouraging interactions with (efficacious) peers may nonetheless be beneficial to young job seekers. Methodologically, the results demonstrate that the operationalization of self-efficacy as a network characteristic might provide us with valuable insights into the characteristics that turn social networks into beneficial social resources.

Adolescents’ Involvement in Romantic Relationships and Problem Behavior: The Moderating Effect of Peer Norms

This study examined how peer norms condition the effect of romantic involvement on adolescents’ externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors. We hypothesized that, as a result of social control and social learning, adolescents who start a romantic relationship report more problem behavior when romantic involvement was not normative behavior in the peer group. We tested this hypothesis for two different peer groups: the friendship network and the class. Using large-scale panel data of Dutch adolescents ( N = 2,302; Mage = 14.5) collected in 222 school classes that included sociometric measures, we found that adolescents who started dating reported more problem behavior if dating was not in line with the class’ norm compared with when dating was in line with the class’ norm. Friends’ norms did not moderate the association between romantic involvement and problem behavior.

Quality of play, social acceptance and reciprocal friendship in preschool children

ABSTRACTPlaying with peers is one of the most important contexts for the acquisition of social competencies in early childhood. This study examined the relation between children’s play behavior, social acceptance in the peer group, and number of reciprocal friendships. One hundred and twenty eight children, aged between three and five years, participated in the study. Social acceptance and number of reciprocal friendships were assessed using two sociometric measures: nomination and comparison among peers. Children’s behavior during play activities was assessed by a Portuguese version of the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale. Global results showed positive and significant correlations between positive interaction and sociometric measures, indicating that children who manifest positive play behaviors are more accepted by peers and have more reciprocal friendships. On the other hand, play disruption and disconnection were negatively correlated with sociometric measures, indicating that children who show these types of play behaviors have lower social acceptance and fewer reciprocal friendships. Parsing the correlations by the three age groups, results show distinct patterns of associations between quality of play, social acceptance and friendship in function of age. Our results stress that already at an early age, behavior during play is related to friendship and social reputation.

Who's Got the Booze? The Role of Access to Alcohol in the Relations Between Social Status and Individual Use.

The findings of previous research that examined relationships between popularity and alcohol use in adolescents have been mixed, and few hypotheses have proposed mechanisms for this relationship. The current study expands on previous literature (a) by examining a possible mechanism that can explain the relation between popularity and alcohol use (home access to alcohol) and (b) by using another sociometric measure ("betweenness"), beyond popularity, that may relate more to home alcohol access. Using network-level data from adolescents in 9th-11th grades in eight schools within two in-home waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), we examined two sociometric measures of social status: popularity (number of schoolmates who nominated participants as a friend) and betweenness (level of ties participants have to multiple social subgroups within a network). Betweenness, but not popularity, related to later alcohol use. Having home access to alcohol positively related to later alcohol use, and having friends with home access to alcohol negatively related to later alcohol use. Alcohol access was also related to later sociometric status. Friends' alcohol access negatively related to later betweenness, and personal alcohol access moderated other pathways predicting betweenness. Betweenness appears to play a unique role in the association between social status and alcohol use in adolescent social networks. This is potentially tied to specific ways in which adolescents may be able to access alcohol (through home or through friends with access at home). More research is necessary to examine the ways in which multiple sociometric statuses relate to the contexts in which adolescents access and use alcohol.

Them That’s Got: How Tie Formation in Partnership Networks Gives High Schools Differential Access to Social Capital

School partnerships are important sources of school social capital. Schools may have unequal access to social capital due to the pattern of relationships in the school-partner network. Using data on school resource needs, sociometric measures, and a set of multilevel logit models, the results of a study of 211 New York City public high schools and 1,098 partner organizations from 1999 to 2005 suggest that high schools have unequal access to partner resources. Already well-endowed schools, in terms of having many experienced teachers or being embedded in dense networks, are most likely to partner. Disadvantaged schools, in terms of having many low socioeconomic status students or being in high-competition network positions, are least likely to partner. So, some policies promoting school partnerships may unintentionally reinforce existing structural inequalities among schools.

Exponential-family Random Graph Models for Rank-order Relational Data

Rank-order relational data, in which each actor ranks other actors according to some criterion, often arise from sociometric measurements of judgment or preference. The authors propose a general framework for representing such data, define a class of exponential-family models for rank-order relational structure, and derive sufficient statistics for interdependent ordinal judgments that do not require the assumption of comparability across raters. These statistics allow estimation of effects for a variety of plausible mechanisms governing rank structure, both in a cross-sectional context and evolving over time. The authors apply this framework to model the evolution of liking judgments in an acquaintance process and to model recall of relative volume of interpersonal interaction among members of a technology education program.

Social dominance in children with cerebral palsy during a problem-solving task with peers

Purpose: Children with cerebral palsy tend to have poorer social competence outcomes than their peers without a disability in mainstream school settings. To understand their social competence, this study compared children with cerebral palsy with paired children without cerebral palsy with respect to their ability to access resources, defined here as “social dominance”, in a problem-solving situation.Method: Children with cerebral palsy were randomly paired to a peer (teammate) and put in a competitive context where each team of two children was instructed to solve an impossible problem. To control for social status, a sociometric measure was administered previously in the classroom (Social Preference score). Behaviors related to social dominance (prosocial and coercive behaviors) were coded using an observation scale validated for this study.Results: The results showed that regardless of social status, children with cerebral palsy were less socially dominant than controls without cerebral palsy. Furthermore, their teams seemed to be less dominant than teams composed of two controls.Conclusions: The lower social competence in children with cerebral palsy could be partly explained by their reduced social dominance behavior in activities requiring speed and fluidity as an expression of executive functions. This might be viewed as a marker for social risks in the integration process at school.Implications for rehabilitationGross Motor Function Classification System level I or II cerebral palsy is a condition that affects not only motor abilities but also social competence in children.Lower social competence in children with cerebral palsy could be partly explained by reduced social dominance behavior in activities such as problem solving with peers.To improve social competence, rehabilitation interventions should include social participation opportunities in which children with cerebral palsy are encouraged to take an active role in the activity.

Analysis of the changing relationship between peer acceptance and academic achievement in adolescents / Análisis de la relación variable entre la aceptación entre iguales y el rendimiento académico de los adolescentes

Peer interactions in the context of group-level relationships have significant consequences on social adjustment across the lifespan of children and adolescents. Indeed, peer relations change systematically with individuals’ development. This study examined the effect of positive peer interactions measured as peer acceptance on academic achievement during the adolescence developmental stage. Participants were 766 students aged 11–16 years old. Adolescents completed a sociometric measure of peer acceptance. Academic achievement data were obtained from students’ report card grades. Regression analyses indicated that peer acceptance predicted academic achievement, and also a moderation effect was found displaying a higher impact of peer acceptance on academic achievement for younger adolescents than for older adolescents. It is suggested that improving peer relationships within the group, especially at early adolescence, can be a target of intervention to improve academic functioning at school.

Social cognition makes an independent contribution to peer relations in children with Specific Language Impairment

BackgroundLanguage is important for developing and maintaining social relationships, and also for understanding others minds. Separate studies have shown that children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) present difficulties in both abilities, although the role of social cognition (SC) on peers’ perception remains unexplored. AimsThe present study aims to assess specific sociometric features of children with SLI through peer nominations of liking and disliking, and also to explore their relationship to the children's SC. Methods and proceduresThirty-five children with SLI attending ordinary schools (3;10 to 8;00 years old) and thirty-five age-matched children (AM) were assessed with language, SC and sociometric measures. ResultsSLI group received more disliked nominations and had lower scores on SC tasks compared to the AM group. After controlling for age and language, SC made an independent contribution to disliked nominations within the SLI group. ConclusionsDifficulties with peers of children with SLI are related to their language level but also with their SC abilities. Consequently, only resolving language impairments will not necessarily improve early peer acceptance in children with SLI. ImplicationThis finding stresses the importance of early intervention programmes aimed at reducing deleterious effects in later development and socialization with peers.

Friendship Security, But Not Friendship Intimacy, Moderates the Stability of Anxiety During Preadolescence

A two-wave longitudinal study of 380 preadolescents (M age = 10.87) from largely middle-class schools in Montréal, Québec, Canada, assessed the hypothesis that friendship security, but not friendship intimacy, moderates the stability of anxiety during adolescence. This central but largely overlooked question about peer relations concerns which aspects of friendship account for the effects of friendship on emotional adjustment. Anxiety and friendship quality were measured via self-report questionnaires, employing the Network of Relationships Inventory for security and intimacy items. An index of friendship durability, which combined reciprocity and stability within first- and second-best friendship choices, was derived from sociometric measures. A latent variable path analysis examined with structural equation modeling showed that anxiety was less stable for children who perceived their friendships as secure. The moderating effect of intimacy was statistically nonsignificant. A follow-up analysis showed that the effects of security did not result from friendship durability. These findings provide support for the long-standing but previously unaddressed hypothesis that security, rather than intimacy, accounts for friendship’s effect on anxiety reduction during early adolescence.

Popularity differentially predicts reactive and proactive aggression in early adolescence.

Previous research has indicated that peer popularity is associated with aggressive behavior. However, it is not yet clear whether popularity is uniquely related to different functions of aggression. In this study, we examined associations between peer-perceived popularity, and reactive and proactive aggression using a cross-sectional and a longitudinal design. Yearly sociometric measures of popularity, and reactive and proactive aggression were gathered from 266 seventh and eight grade adolescents (Mage grade 7 = 12.80, SDage = .40). Popularity was positively correlated with proactive aggression and negatively correlated with reactive aggression, both concurrently as over time. Curvilinear trends indicated that a significant minority of low versus high popular adolescents showed both functions of aggression. Somewhat stronger effects of popularity on proactive aggression were found for boys than girls. Stably popular adolescents showed the highest levels of proactive aggression, whereas stably unpopular youth showed the highest levels of reactive aggression. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

The Inclusion of Children with ASD: Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour as a Theoretical Framework to Explore Peer Attitudes

This study used the Theory of Planned Behaviour to explore the attitudes, behavioural intentions and behaviour of 318 mainstream primary school children in an urban East London borough towards peers with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Pupils were presented with a vignette about a hypothetical peer with ASD then completed self-report questionnaires and peer socio-metric measures. The results showed that children’s attitudes, the social pressure they felt from others and the amount of control they felt they had over their own behaviour, significantly predicted their behavioural intentions to befriend a peer with ASD. The strongest association was between perceived behavioural control and behavioural intentions. A significant association was also found between children’s behavioural intentions and actual behaviour towards an included peer. Support was therefore found for the use of the Theory of Planned Behaviour as a valuable tool by which to explore the social inclusion of children with ASD.

Affiliative structures and social competence in Portuguese preschool children.

The goal of this study was to determine whether peer social competence (SC), defined as the capacity to use behavioral, cognitive, and emotional resources in the service of achieving personal goals within preschool peer groups, was related to the type of affiliative subgroups to which children belonged. Two hundred forty Portuguese preschool children (152 seen in consecutive years of data collection) from middle-class families participated. Affiliative subgroup type was assessed from observed proximity data. Social competence was assessed using observational and sociometric measures. Children in more cohesive affiliative subgroups had higher levels of SC, whereas ungrouped children had the lowest SC scores. Follow-up analyses indicated that 2 of the measured SC domains (social engagement/motivation, profiles of behavior/personality attributes) were responsible for the overall difference in SC. Further, membership in a more cohesive subgroup in 1 year contributed to increases in scores for 2 of 3 SC domains (i.e., profiles of behavior/personality attributes and peer acceptance) in the following year. Results suggest that affiliative subgroups both reflect and support individual differences in peer SC during early childhood.

O reduzido envolvimento social: implicações para o ajustamento psicossocial de crianças em contexto pré-escolar

O reduzido envolvimento social, aspeto central na definição da solidão social, foi analisado numa amostra de 337 crianças portuguesas (171 rapazes), com idades compreendidas entre os três e os cinco anos. Com base em metodologias de observação, realizadas em contexto de Jardim de infância, verificou-se que níveis reduzidos de envolvimento social estão negativamente associados a baixos níveis de competência social, de resiliência e de um elevado ego-controle. A aceitação pelos pares, o impacto e a preferência social, analisados com base nas medidas sociométricas, encontram-se, também, negativamente associados com os níveis de baixo envolvimento social. Os resultados refletem as dificuldades de ajustamento psicossocial destas crianças e enfatizam o seu potencial risco para o desenvolvimento saudável.

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: psychometric properties of the parent and teacher version in children aged 4-7.

BackgroundThe Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire is one of the most employed screening instruments. Although there is a large research body investigating its psychometric properties, reliability and validity are not yet fully tested using modern techniques. Therefore, we investigate reliability, construct validity, measurement invariance, and predictive validity of the parent and teacher version in children aged 4–7. Besides, we intend to replicate previous studies by investigating test-retest reliability and criterion validity.MethodsIn a Dutch community sample 2,238 teachers and 1,513 parents filled out questionnaires regarding problem behaviors and parenting, while 1,831 children reported on sociometric measures at T1. These children were followed-up during three consecutive years. Reliability was examined using Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega, construct validity was examined by Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and predictive validity was examined by calculating developmental profiles and linking these to measures of inadequate parenting, parenting stress and social preference. Further, mean scores and percentiles were examined in order to establish norms.ResultsOmega was consistently higher than alpha regarding reliability. The original five-factor structure was replicated, and measurement invariance was established on a configural level. Further, higher SDQ scores were associated with future indices of higher inadequate parenting, higher parenting stress and lower social preference. Finally, previous results on test-retest reliability and criterion validity were replicated.ConclusionsThis study is the first to show SDQ scores are predictively valid, attesting to the feasibility of the SDQ as a screening instrument. Future research into predictive validity of the SDQ is warranted.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40359-015-0061-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Computerized sociometric assessment for preschool children

In preschool classes, sociometric peer ratings are used to measure children’s peer relationships. The current study examined a computerized version of preschool sociometric ratings. The psychometric properties were compared of computerized sociometric ratings and traditional peer ratings for preschoolers. The distributions, inter-item correlations, and reliabilities of sociometric scores were comparable between the computerized assessment and traditional assessment. The computerized assessment provided additional data for further analysis of the peer evaluation process. Therefore, computerized peer ratings are a promising tool for sociometric measurement with preschool children.

Considering Students' Experiences in Diverse Groups

Outdoor adventure education (OAE) spaces are historically white and privileged. Through a social justice lens, if we, as OAE providers, believe that all people should have access to OAE experiences, one potential remedy to access barriers may be the provision of scholarships to students from lower socioeconomic status. This would increase diversity, broadly conceived, on OAE courses which would, in turn, affect group interactions. But in what ways? Through sociometric measures (social network analysis) as well as interviews, this exploratory study sought to describe the experiences of students on OAE courses composed of different numbers of students receiving full scholarships. Challenges of integrating students receiving scholarships into existing OAE program structures are discussed, and programmatic modifications are considered.

Using sociometric measures to assess nonresponse bias

PurposeMuch attention has been given to the potential nonresponse bias that occurs in epidemiologic studies that attempt to enroll a representative sample. Most analyses surrounding nonrespondents focus on individual-level attributes and how they vary across respondents and nonrespondents. Although these attributes are of interest, analysis of the social network position of nonrespondents as defined by traditional sociometric measures (i.e., centrality and bridging) has not been conducted, and could provide further insights into the validity of the sample. MethodsWe used data from the Secunderabadi Men's Study, a whole network of Indian men who have sex with men (MSM) generated using cell phone contact lists of men approached using Time Location Cluster Sampling. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine whether demographic and behavioral attributes and indegree (the frequency of men who have sex with men was listed across all cell phone contact lists) were associated with being a respondent. ResultsA total of 239 respondents were interviewed and 81 were approached but did not consent to the interview (“nonrespondents”). ConclusionsRespondents were more likely to have higher indegree than nonrespondents, adjusting for attribute differences (odds ratio, 1.19; 95% confidence interval, 1.07, 1.34). This analysis suggests that the network position of nonrespondents may be important when considering the potential impact of nonresponse bias.