Popularity and Gender Prototypicality: An Experimental Approach.

Despite the growing scientific understanding of peer popularity, there are few theories that explicitly address the development of peer popularity in adolescence. The studies reported here present a preliminary test of the theory that popularity is associated with gender prototypicality. Popularity is associated with physical attractiveness, as well as with attributes (e.g., athletic involvement for boys, having stylish clothes for girls) that often reflect gender-based expectations. After being exposed to either a high school popularity priming condition or a neutral control condition, 1st-year college students rated photographs (Study 1, N = 368, 34% male, 66% female; Mage = 19.30, SD = 1.78, range 17-35), vignettes (Study 2, N = 249, 16.4% males, 83.2% females, 0.4% other; Mage = 18.71, SD = 2.31, range 17-40), and social media profiles (Study 3, N = 218, 30.3% male, 69.3% female, 0.5% other; Mage = 19.40, SD = 2.31, range 18-39) depicting gender-typical and gender-atypical adolescents' appearance and interests on a number of popularity-related characteristics. These results indicated that gender prototypicality in both appearance and interests is associated with popularity.

Pastors' Perceptions of the Black Church's Role in Teen Pregnancy Prevention.

Objective. To identify pastors' perceptions of the Black Church's role in promoting adolescent sexual health and preventing teen pregnancy. The Black Church and pastor are important partners in addressing health disparities in the Black community, especially those addressing sensitive issues as teen pregnancy. Methods. Semistructured interviews (n = 31) were conducted with Black Church pastors in two southwestern U.S. cities from September 2014 to July 2015. The question path was developed based on interviews with local leaders, literature searches, and key informant pastor interviews. Questions included knowledge/beliefs about sexuality education, church's role in preventing teen pregnancy, and implementation obstacles. Interviews were transcribed and thematically analyzed. Results. (1) All pastors believed that the Black Church should address teen pregnancy with parents and congregants. (2) Two major obstacles emerged: (a) all pastors perceived social consequences, including resistant parents and (b) discomfort discussing contraceptives/condoms. (3) All pastors were willing to partner with organizations, but most had reservations based on conflicting missions/values. Conclusions. Black Church pastors support teen pregnancy prevention programs in the church; however, public health partners must be willing to address the church's unique needs and mission.

Parents' beliefs of the Black Church's role in teen pregnancy prevention.

INTRODUCTION: Parents are important decision makers in black churches. The objective of this qualitative study was to identify African American parents' beliefs of the Black Church's role in preventing teen pregnancy and promoting healthy teen relationships. METHODS: Parent members (n = 36) of 27 predominately Black churches in two southwestern US cities participated in semi-structured interviews from February-June 2017. A question path was developed based on literature searches, key informant interviews, and a previous study with local pastors, and questions focused on parents' knowledge/beliefs about 1) sexuality education, 2) the church's role in preventing teen pregnancy, and 3) implementation obstacles. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded using NVivo, and open-coded for themes to investigate patterns across codes and participants. Transcripts were then reviewed for quotes to represent each theme. RESULTS: Five themes were identified, with multiple subthemes. Most parents said there should be no boundaries on the type of sexuality information shared by their church, but later changed their minds after reviewing a list of potential topics. Parents listed 'parent-child communication', 'goals and dreams', and 'relationships' as the most important topics for teen pregnancy prevention intervention. Parents said information shared during workshops should be judgement-free and realistic. Parents most often said pastors and/or youth pastors/directors should deliver sexual health information. Parents believed older adults and other parents may oppose sexual education. CONCLUSIONS: By understanding parents' beliefs of teen pregnancy prevention programs, public health practitioners can understand concerns, modify implementation strategies, and utilize parental support to gain buy-in before planning and implementing programs.

Logistical Challenges and Opportunities for Conducting Peer Nomination Research in Schools.

Although conducting psychological research within schools has always required effort, persistence, and the careful navigation of various interests, there is a consensus among child and adolescent researchers that, over the past 2 decades, it has become increasingly difficult to collect data within schools. In this chapter, we lay out common and consistent difficulties, frustrations, and obstacles that researchers face when attempting to conduct peer nomination research in schools. Many of these difficulties are faced not only by researchers conducting peer nominations but by any investigator attempting to do school-based research, and we discuss these issues more broadly. We also focus on the specific challenges associated with sociometric methods. We present suggestions and solutions for overcoming these issues and consider ways that researchers can give back to schools and establish long-term partnerships that benefit the students, teachers, and administrators of participating schools, as well as the researchers themselves. Such partnerships have the potential to make data collection easier and to open doors to new research opportunities.

Peer status and aggression as predictors of dating popularity in adolescence.

Research has identified links between dating and aversive behavior such as aggression and bullying in adolescence, highlighting the need for studies that further our understanding of romantic relationships and their dynamics during this period. This study tested the associations between dating popularity and overt and relational aggression, social preference, and peer popularity. Of particular interest were the moderating roles of social preference and peer popularity in the association of aggression with dating popularity. Further moderation by gender was also explored. Participants were 478 ninth-graders (48% girls) with peer nomination scores for peer status, aggression, and dating popularity. Dating popularity was positively correlated with popularity, social preference, and overt and relational aggression. Regression models indicated that popular, overtly aggressive girls were seen as desirable dating partners by their male peers. Relational aggression was associated with dating popularity for both boys and girls, especially for youths who were well-liked by peers. These findings are interpreted in light of developmental-contextual perspectives on adolescent romantic relationships and Resource Control Theory.

Aggressive effects of prioritizing popularity in early adolescence.

This study examined the moderating effects of prioritizing popularity on the association between early adolescents' popularity and their aggressive, leadership, and prosocial behaviors with peers. Participants were 288 14-year-olds from The Netherlands who completed a sociometric instrument and an assessment of how much they prioritized popularity over other personal goals. Results indicated that prioritizing popularity was distinct from actual popularity in the peer group. Further, prioritizing popularity moderated the association of popularity with aggressive and leadership behaviors, with adolescents who were both popular and who prioritized popularity being particularly aggressive and scoring high on leadership behaviors. This trend was especially true for boys. The same moderating effect was not found for prosocial behaviors. Motivational and social-cognitive factors in the dynamics of peer popularity are highlighted.

Functions, targets, and outcomes of specific forms of social aggression: a daily diary study.

The authors investigated 8 specific forms of social aggression (SA) in terms of the functions they serve, the characteristics of the peers targeted by them, and the outcomes associated with using the behaviors. Two hundred and seventeen fifth- and seventh-grade boys and girls completed a structured daily diary for 5 consecutive days in their English classes. Participants reported on their own acts of SA. Girls reported using SA overall more frequently than boys, but most specific forms of SA were used equally often by both genders. Consistent with study hypotheses, different forms of SA were associated with different functions, targets, and outcomes. Gender and grade moderated many of these associations. The need for greater understanding of the underlying processes associated with SA, including the role of gender, are highlighted.

Similarities and Differences in Popular Peers in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood.

The transition to emerging adulthood is accompanied by shifts in social ecology that influence the attributes that garner popularity among peers. The goal of this study was to compare descriptions of popular high school and college peers. Participants were 218 college undergraduates (70% female, mean age 19.6 years) at a large, public Midwestern university. Participants provided descriptions of their popular male and female college peers, and retrospective descriptions of their popular male and female high school peers. Descriptions were coded into one of 11 content categories and rated for their valence. Popular high school students were described in terms of their appearance, wealth, and athletic ability. Popular college students were described in terms of their prosocial behavior, peer interactions, social competencies, and involvement in campus groups. Emerging adulthood may bring a shift in the meaning of popularity toward more prosocial attributes and behaviors that facilitate the development of positive relationships with others.

Predicting changes in adjustment using repeated measures of sociometric status.

The authors' goals in the study were to investigate the possible gains made by including multiple assessments of status in the prediction of change in psychosocial adjustment and to compare the effectiveness of continuous and categorical measures of peer status in predicting adjustment. The authors obtained continuous and categorical measures of status (social preference and rejected status) for 644 Grade 4 students at 3 points within 1 school year (fall, winter, and spring). The authors measured peer, teacher, and self-report indexes of social adjustment (including aggression, anxiety, and sociability) in Grades 4 and 5. Both measures of peer status at all 3 time points in Grade 4 were significant predictors of adjustment in Grade 5, controlling for Grade 4 levels, with the midyear (i.e., winter) assessment showing a slight predictive advantage over the fall and spring assessments. Children who were classified as peer rejected over multiple assessments had more social adjustment problems in the next school year than did children who were classified as peer rejected at 1 time point only. The authors discuss these findings in terms of the utility of multiple assessments of both continuous and categorical measures of peer status for predicting later outcomes.

Preschoolers' influence on and help with beverage selection at the grocery store is linked to maternal responsiveness and child beverage intake: An exploratory study.

Children's involvement in beverage selection or purchase has seldom been investigated. The responsiveness dimension of parental feeding styles has been related to healthy maternal feeding practices. Assessing mothers' reports of responsiveness and demandingness in grocery stores may shed light on influences on purchases of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and fruit juice (FJ). Study objectives were to explore whether (1) maternal responsiveness and demandingness were associated with preschoolers' a) help with selection of and b) influence on SSB and FJ purchases during grocery shopping and whether (2) preschoolers' a) help with selection of and b) influence on SSB and FJ purchases were associated with child intake of these beverages. Mothers of 3-to-5-year-old children (n=185) who co-shopped with the child completed the Caregiver Feeding Style Questionnaire, reported frequency of child help with selection and influence on beverage purchase via questionnaire, and provided a one-day weekend food recall for the child. In adjusted logistic regressions, responsiveness was associated with child help selecting FJ (OR=6.50, 95% CI[1.04, 40.75], p<0.05), but not SSB. In multiple regressions, children who frequently helped select or influenced SSB purchases had higher SSB intake, b(SE)=3.63(1.40), t(176)=2.59, and b(SE)=3.18(1.25), t(176)=2.53, p<0.05. Mothers with higher responsiveness were more likely to let their preschoolers select FJ but not SSB during shopping. Children who frequently helped select or influenced SSB purchases had higher SSB intake than children who did so infrequently. Additional parenting behaviors associated with grocery shopping should be explored.

Popularity and Resource Control Goals as Predictors of Adolescent Indirect Aggression.

Resource Control Theory conceptualizes aggression as a behavior that allows access to, and control of, limited resources (P. H. Hawley, 1999 ). This study investigated the associations of adolescents' indirect aggression with their resource control goals, or goals related to controlling social resources such as dating opportunities and peer status, and with their levels of popularity and social intelligence. Participants were 109 seventh-graders (52% girls) who completed a resource control goals measure, the Tromsø Social Intelligence Scale, and peer nominations of popularity and indirect aggression. Results indicated positive associations between resource control goals and peer-nominated indirect aggression, with popularity further moderating these associations. These findings suggest that the resource control goals of adolescents can be a motivating force to engage in hurtful behaviors. They provide a context from which peer relations researchers can improve their understanding and prevention of adolescents' indirect aggression.

Development of social problem solving in early childhood: stability, change, and associations with social competence.

Kindergarten and 1st-grade boys were administered social cognitive interviews in 2 consecutive years to investigate the response-generation step of N. R. Crick and K. A. Dodge's (1994) social information processing model. Boys generated responses to 4 types of hypothetical social dilemmas. Responses to these situations were primarily prosocial, with a large minority of avoidant and antisocial solutions. In general, older boys provided more effective solutions than did their younger peers, and stabilities were modest but significant for subcategories of both prosocial and antisocial responses. Boys who were accepted by their peers provided more prosocial and effective solutions than did boys of lower peer status, but no status differences emerged for antisocial responses. The data also suggest that young children view aggression as an acceptable means to solving peer conflict.

Honor and the Stigma of Mental Healthcare.

Most prior research on cultures of honor has focused on interpersonal aggression. The present studies examined the novel hypothesis that honor-culture ideology enhances the stigmatization of mental health needs and inhibits the use of mental health services. Study 1 demonstrated that people who strongly endorsed honor-related beliefs and values were especially concerned that seeking help for mental health needs would indicate personal weakness and would harm their reputations. Studies 2 and 3 showed that honor states in the U.S. South and West invested less in mental healthcare resources, compared with non-honor states in the North (Study 2), and that parents living in honor states were less likely than parents in non-honor states to use mental health services on behalf of their children (Study 3). Together, these studies reveal an overlooked consequence of honor ideology for psychological well-being at the individual, social, and institutional levels.

From censure to reinforcement: developmental changes in the association between aggression and social status.

Developmental changes were examined in the associations among physical and relational aggression, and sociometric and perceived popularity based on peer nominations. Participating in the longitudinal study were 905 children (440 girls, 465 boys) from ages 10 to 14. Associations between the forms of status and between the forms of aggression decreased over time. Relational aggression increasingly predicted high social prominence but low social preference; physical aggression was increasingly less disliked but decreasingly predictive of prominence. The effect of relational aggression on perceived popularity was strong for girls. Perceived popularity preceded physical and relational aggression for both genders. Implications for the attainment of high status, processes of peer influence on antisocial behavior, and gender differences in the meaning of status are discussed.