The Trajectory of Popularity Goal During the Transition to Middle School

Abstract

The trajectory of early adolescents' popularity goal during the transition to middle school was examined in a diverse sample of 401 students. Popularity goal was assessed at five time points from the spring semester of fifth grade through the spring semester of seventh grade with the transition to middle school occurring between the fifth and sixth grades. Results showed a significant increase in youth's endorsement of popularity goal after the transition to middle school followed by a significant decrease in popularity goal over the course of the sixth and seventh grade years. The rate of change for popularity goal during the transition was significantly different depending on youth's popularity and their perceptions of the popularity peer norm: youth with low popularity significantly increased their popularity goal during the transition, and youth who perceived high peer norms for popularity also significantly increased their popularity goal during the transition to middle school. No gender differences but significant ethnic differences were found in the popularity goal trajectories.

Influence of Social Skills and Stressors on Academic Achievement in the Sixth-Grade

“…A. P. Del Prette, 2009). The presentation of these behaviors is necessary for the emergence of healthy interpersonal relationships in adolescence, since adolescents are more susceptible to yielding to the negative pressure and influence of their peers, favoring the emergence of behavioral problems (Dawes & Xie, 2016;Eccles & Roeser, 2011).…”

“…In Brazil, the socalled Middle School is currently divided into Initial Years, which comprise 1st to 5th grade (equivalent to Elementary School), and Final Years, which comprise the 6th to 9th grades (equivalent to Middle School). The admission in the 1st grade (Cadima, McWilliam, & Leal, 2010), as well as in 6th grade are two important transitions experienced by students in MS (Dawes & Xie, 2016;Lane et al, 2015). However, despite growing publications about the transition to the 1st grade, little attention has been given to the transitions occurring within the same school segment, as is the case of the passage from the 5th to the 6th grade (Lane et al, 2015).…”

“…In the national context, studies have evidenced the importance of investigating children's resources (for example, social skills) and their contexts (positive educational practices) to facilitate interpersonal and academic adaptation in the transition to the 1st grade of Elementary Education (Bolsoni-Silva & Mariano, 2014;Correia-Zanini & Marturano, 2015;Leme & Marturano, 2014;Marturano, Trivellato-Ferreira, & Gardinal, 200;Stasiak & Weber, 2013). But it seems obvious that the 6th grade of the MS, like the 1st grade, demands adaptation by the students to the various structural, academic and relational changes (Dawes & Xie, 2016;Lane et al, 2015;Sebanc, Guimond, & Lutgen, 2016). However, with its own characteristics, for example, it is no longer necessary to have a centralized structure in a single teacher for each class for a system with several teachers that take turns in classes, as well as the existence of a larger number of school subjects and more numerous classrooms (Shoshani & Slone, 2012).…”

Bidirectional Associations between Popularity, Popularity Goal, and Aggression, Alcohol Use and Prosocial Behaviors in Adolescence: A 3-Year Prospective Longitudinal Study

“…However, not everyone strives for this limited resource to the same extent, as youth differ in how much they value high status, such as being popular. It seems that adolescents who are more popular than their peers are the ones who tend to be more motivated to remain or become even more popular, as previous studies have found a moderate association between actual popularity and popularity goal (e.g., Dawes and Xie 2017). As such, high-status youth who have experienced the benefits of popularity (e.g., resources, attention : Hawley 1999: Hawley , 2003) may subsequently have a higher popularity goal.…”

Characteristics of rumors and rumor victims in early adolescence: Rumor content and social impact

“…A peer nomination procedure was used (see Farmer, Estell, Bishop, O'Neal, & Cairns, ; Farmer & Rodkin, ; Rodkin, Farmer, Pearl, & Van Acker, ). To measure perceived popularity, each participant was asked during the group survey session to nominate from free recall classmates who best fit the descriptor ‘popular’ (‘This person is popular at school, many classmates like to play with them or do things with them’) which has been shown to measure perceived popularity (Dawes & Xie, ; Shi & Xie, ). The participants were also asked to nominate peers who best fit the descriptor ‘coolness’ (‘This person is really cool.…”