Research on social development often attempts to predict social status in children's peer groups using personality features or traits of the individual child. Yet few personality measures consistently predict social acceptance across different groups, and those predictors that are consistent generally account for small proportions of the variance in status. This article proposes that social status is a function of both individual and group characteristics. It is argued that two factors are necessary to predict peer popularity: prosocial interaction and person-group similarity. Prosocial behavior is viewed as a prerequisite for high social status and is predicted to be consistently correlated with status across peer groups. The relation between status and other social behaviors such as aggression is predicted to be mediated by the degree of similarity between the individual and the peer group. The results of two studies, employing both acceptance and rejection measures of status, provide support for the proposed model. This evidence helps to integrate apparently discrepant findings in the sociometric literature and demonstrates the utility of social psychological theories of interpersonal attraction in the study of peer status.Peer relations in childhood play a central role in social and emotional development. Probed initially by Moreno (1934), Northway (1944), and Bonney (1947, social acceptance and rejection have become the focus of renewed research efforts (e.g.,

Background: This study examined anti-vaccination social media posts that favored COVID-19 treatment (monoclonal antibodies (mAbs)) rather than prevention through vaccination, both of which were under Emergency Use Authorization rather than full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at the time of this study. Our research stemmed from participation in a U.S. public health education campaign led by a coalition of government agencies to expand provider and health system use of mAbs with high-risk COVID-19 positive patients. Aim: Inform real world communication strategies for treatment over prevention therapies. Methods: We analyzed the most-engaged tweets that mentioned mAbs and vaccines from March 1 to August 31, 2021. Results: Our qualitative analysis identified the following themes: distrust in science, individualism, and politically oriented or partisan sentiment. Discussion: Countering anti-vaccine messages and reducing the susceptibility of vaccine-hesitant individuals to these messages must involve message design that considers the individualism and distrust revealed in this study. We recommend two approaches: (1) unmasking anti-vaccine messaging techniques; (2) using colloquial and values-driven language. Conclusions: Our findings reinforce the need for public health practitioners to monitor public and social media discourse, adopt messaging that navigates anti-vaccine sentiment, and engage with the preference for treatment over prevention.

No abstract

No abstract