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Examined the effects of a positive and negative peer nomination sociometric measure on children's (a) interactions with peers in general, (b) interactions with preferred and nonpreferred playmates, and (c) ratings of mood and of loneliness in school. Twenty-three Sth graders completed either a peer nomination sociometric or a control task (nominating preferred and nonpreferred school subjects). Before and after the nomination task, observers assessed the affective quality (positive, neutral, or negative) of subjects' peer interactions, and children completed mood and loneliness questionnaires. The procedures were subsequently replicated by administering the sociometric task to the control subjects. Analyses revealed no differences between the peer and control nomination task groups on any of the dependent variables measured. Analyses of pre-post differences provided no evidence of negative effects, suggesting that the risk to elementary-school-age children of completing such a sociometric measure, provided certain procedural guidelines are followed, may be minimal.We would like to thank the school personnel and students who participated in this study and the undergraduate and graduate students who assisted in data collection. The comments of the reviewers were extremely useful in preparing this article.