Patterns of Gender Development Across Intersections of Age, Gender, and Ethnicity-Race.

Two components of gender identity are gender similarity, how one's self-concept relates to the major gender collectives (i.e., female, male), and felt pressure to conform to gender norms. The development of these components across ages and contexts has been understudied. The focus of this study was to examine variations in gender similarity and felt pressure across multiple intersecting contexts: developmental stage, gender, and ethnic-racial group. Six data sets were harmonized and means were compared across 2628 participants (51% girls, 49% boys) from four different developmental cohorts (childhood n = 678, early adolescence n = 1322, adolescence n = 415, and young adulthood n = 213) from diverse ethnic-racial backgrounds (45% White, 23% Latinx/Hispanic, 11% Black/African-American, 7% Asian-American, 5% American Indian, and 5% Multiracial). Results revealed nuanced patterns: Gender intensification was supported in early adolescence, primarily for boys. Young adult men reported lower levels of pressure and gender typicality than younger boys, but young adult women's levels were generally not different than younger girls. Surprisingly, young adult women's levels of own-gender similarity and pressure from parents were higher than adolescent girls. Expectations of gender differences in gender typicality and felt pressure were supported for all ages except young adults, with higher levels for boys. Finally, there were more similarities than differences across ethnic-racial groups, though when there were differences, minoritized participants reported heightened gender typicality and pressure (largely accounted for by higher scores for Black and Latinx participants and lower scores for White and Multiracial participants). These results add to what is understood about contextually dependent gender development.

The Social Dynamics of Fun: Can Fun Youth Bring Peers Together and Positively Influence Their Friends?

There is a critical gap in our understanding of how peer relationships contribute to positive youth development. To address this gap the current study uses longitudinal social network data to examine if fun youth were socially desirable, inclusive of peers, and positive agents of social influence during the transition to adolescence. Participants were 210 students (47% female; Mage = 11.55 years at the outset) from 8 classes in 3 schools in a small Lithuanian city. Each child received a fun score consisting of nominations from classmates as "someone who is fun to be around". Participants also nominated up to five classmates as friends. Fun students received more friendship nominations than their peers and they maintained higher levels of social desirability over time. Fun youth appeared to be inclusive of their peers in that fun youth did not appear to have preferences to befriend only those like themselves. The friends of fun youth were positively influenced such that they were perceived to be more fun over time. The findings suggests that fun youth may promote positive social change within peer groups.

Peer Relationships and Indonesian Muslim Adolescents' Religiosity and Religious Coping: Selection and Influence.

The religious similarity of adolescents and their friends can arise from selection or influence. Prior studies were limited because of confounds that arose from the ethnic and religious heterogeneity of the samples and the use of cross-sectional designs. SIENA was used in this two-year longitudinal study of 825 Indonesian Muslim high school students (445 girls; mean age = 16.5 years) to assess peer selection and influence as these pertained to religiosity and religious coping. The analyses yielded significant influence but not selection effects for both religiosity and religious coping. This study is an important methodological advance over prior research and although limited by correlational data, nevertheless, provides evidence that adolescents influence their peers' religiousness.

Peers influence the tobacco and alcohol use of Chinese adolescents.

This two-wave longitudinal study examined peer selection and influence pertaining to tobacco and alcohol use by adolescents and their friends in a sample of 854 Chinese adolescents (384 girls: mean age = 13.33 years). Participants nominated friends and self-reported their tobacco and alcohol use at seventh and again at eighth grade. Longitudinal social network analyses revealed evidence of friend influence but not selection over smoking and drinking. Boys increased their levels of smoking at rates greater than that of girls, but no sex moderation of either selection or influence was found. In interpreting these results, it is important to understand the gender norms for Chinese boys and girls and the cultural context of tobacco and alcohol use.

Power in Aggressor-Victim Relationships: Exploring Social, Physical, Gender- and Ethnicity-Based Power.

Theory highlights power in aggressor-victim relationships, yet empirical work assessing dyadic power is largely absent. Variability in power balance versus imbalance within aggressor-victim dyads (based on social, physical, gender- and ethnicity-based power) was explored. Participants (N = 952; grade 6-8; 50% girls, 44% Hispanic/Latina/o) nominated aggressors and victims (4662 aggressor-victim dyads; 642 strong dyads [based on reputational strength]; 169 sustained dyads [based on longevity]). Dyadic social power (social network centrality and prestige) was calculated from friendship nominations. Self-report was used for dyadic physical (body mass index), gender- and ethnicity-based power. Across power indicators, there were more power-balanced than imbalanced dyads (particularly for strong and sustained dyads). The findings challenge theoretical notions that aggressors are more powerful than their victims and have implications for aggressor-victim relationships.

Early Adolescent Gender Development: The Differential Effects of Felt Pressure from Parents, Peers, and the Self.

Most empirical research examining youth's gender development measures felt pressure to conform to gender norms using a composite value of felt pressure from multiple sources; however, because of the different socialization processes at work from parents, peers, and the self, analyzing these sources separately may elucidate different effects on gender development. Thus, the purpose of this study was to (a) differentiate the effects of perceived gender socialization pressure from parents, peers, and the self on early adolescents' own- and other-gender typicality, and (b) to examine whether a bi-directional relation between gender typicality and felt pressure is evident when distinguished across sources. With a sample of 212 early adolescents (54% girls; Mage = 11.11 years), felt pressure was found to be distinguishable by socialization source: adolescents' perceptions of parents, peers, and their own pressures were distinct, and each contributed differently to gender development. Pressure from self and peers were both found to relate concurrently to typicality (i.e., positively to own-gender typicality, negatively to other-gender typicality); only pressure from the self was found to have a longitudinal effect on adolescents' developing gender identity (i.e., an increase in own-gender typicality). Interestingly, other-gender typicality did not elicit higher felt pressure; in fact, it was negatively related to later felt pressure from the self, suggesting that adolescents may be developing self-acceptance of their levels of gender typicality. The findings suggest that the development of gender identity may involve a complex interplay with various sources of socialization pressures (e.g., parent, peers, self), and may further shift in relation to the adolescent's own levels of gender typicality.

The Influence of Peers During Adolescence: Does Homophobic Name Calling by Peers Change Gender Identity?

Adolescents actively evaluate their identities during adolescence, and one of the most salient and central identities for youth concerns their gender identity. Experiences with peers may inform gender identity. Unfortunately, many youth experience homophobic name calling, a form of peer victimization, and it is unknown whether youth internalize these peer messages and how these messages might influence gender identity. The goal of the present study was to assess the role of homophobic name calling on changes over the course of an academic year in adolescents' gender identity. Specifically, this study extends the literature using a new conceptualization and measure of gender identity that involves assessing how similar adolescents feel to both their own- and other-gender peers and, by employing longitudinal social network analyses, provides a rigorous analytic assessment of the impact of homophobic name calling on changes in these two dimensions of gender identity. Symbolic interaction perspectives-the "looking glass self"-suggest that peer feedback is incorporated into the self-concept. The current study tests this hypothesis by determining if adolescents respond to homophobic name calling by revising their self-view, specifically, how the self is viewed in relation to both gender groups. Participants were 299 6th grade students (53% female). Participants reported peer relationships, experiences of homophobic name calling, and gender identity (i.e., similarity to own- and other-gender peers). Longitudinal social network analyses revealed that homophobic name calling early in the school year predicted changes in gender identity over time. The results support the "looking glass self" hypothesis: experiencing homophobic name calling predicted identifying significantly less with own-gender peers and marginally more with other-gender peers over the course of an academic year. The effects held after controlling for participant characteristics (e.g., gender), social network features (e.g., norms), and peer experiences (e.g., friend influence, general victimization). Homophobic name calling emerged as a form of peer influence that changed early adolescent gender identity, such that adolescents in this study appear to have internalized the messages they received from peers and incorporated these messages into their personal views of their own gender identity.

Traditional Masculinity During the Middle School Transition: Associations with Depressive Symptoms and Academic Engagement.

Culturally prescribed social scripts for traditional masculinity that emphasize social dominance are frequently linked to diminished well-being for men across a variety of psychological domains. However, few studies have examined the role of traditional masculinity scripts in the lives of early adolescent boys and girls, despite their relevance during this period and their potential developmental implications. To address this need, we examined the development of early adolescents' conformity to traditional masculinity across the middle school transition, as well as its links with depressive symptoms and academic engagement. Using a diverse sample of 280 adolescents (M age = 11.13, SD = 0.51; 54.3 % Female; 44 % Latina/o) assessed at the beginning (fall 2014) and end (spring 2015) of their first year of middle school, we found an increase in conformity to traditional masculinity scripts among boys, but not among girls. For boys and girls alike, conformity to traditional masculinity predicted greater depressive symptoms and decreased academic engagement. Depressive symptoms also mediated the association between traditional masculinity and academic engagement for boys and girls. This study is among the first to study conformity to traditional masculinity from a developmental lens. The findings suggest that traditional masculinity scripts are relevant for early adolescents (particularly boys) transitioning to middle school. However, for both boys and girls, conformity to these scripts can compromise psychological and academic well-being.

Assessing the Impact of Homophobic Name Calling on Early Adolescent Mental Health: A Longitudinal Social Network Analysis of Competing Peer Influence Effects.

The goal of the current study was to improve our understanding of why adolescence is a critical period for the consideration of declining mental health. We did this by focusing on the impact of homophobic name calling on early adolescent mental health after the transition to middle school. Because we know that homophobic name calling emerges within a dynamic peer group structure, we used longitudinal social network analysis to assess the relation between homophobic name calling, depressive symptoms, and self-esteem while simultaneously limiting bias from alternative peer socialization mechanisms. A sample of adolescents who recently transitioned to a large public middle school (N = 299; 53 % girls; M age = 11.13 years, SD = 0.48) were assessed. Longitudinal assessments of peer relationship networks, depressive symptoms, and self-esteem were collected during the fall and spring of the academic year. The results suggest that, after accounting for the simultaneous effect of alternative peer socialization processes, adolescent experiences of homophobic name calling in the fall predict higher levels of depressive symptoms and lower levels of self-esteem over the course of the academic year. These findings provide evidence of a significant influence of homophobic name calling on adolescent mental health.

Changing Friend Selection in Middle School: A Social Network Analysis of a Randomized Intervention Study Designed to Prevent Adolescent Problem Behavior.

Adolescent friendships that promote problem behavior are often chosen in middle school. The current study examines the unintended impact of a randomized school-based intervention on the selection of friends in middle school, as well as on observations of deviant talk with friends 5 years later. Participants included 998 middle school students (526 boys and 472 girls) recruited at the onset of middle school (age 11-12 years) from three public middle schools participating in the Family Check-up model intervention. The current study focuses only on the effects of the SHAPe curriculum-one level of the Family Check-up model-on friendship choices. Participants nominated friends and completed measures of deviant peer affiliation. Approximately half of the sample (n = 500) was randomly assigned to the intervention, and the other half (n = 498) comprised the control group within each school. The results indicate that the SHAPe curriculum affected friend selection within school 1 but not within schools 2 or 3. The effects of friend selection in school 1 translated into reductions in observed deviancy training 5 years later (age 16-17 years). By coupling longitudinal social network analysis with a randomized intervention study, the current findings provide initial evidence that a randomized public middle school intervention can disrupt the formation of deviant peer groups and diminish levels of adolescent deviance 5 years later.

Peer Influence on Academic Performance: A Social Network Analysis of Social-Emotional Intervention Effects.

Longitudinal social network analysis (SNA) was used to examine how a social-emotional learning (SEL) intervention may be associated with peer socialization on academic performance. Fifth graders (N = 631; 48 % girls; 9 to 12 years) were recruited from six elementary schools. Intervention classrooms (14) received a relationship building intervention (RBI) and control classrooms (8) received elementary school as usual. At pre- and post-test, students nominated their friends, and teachers completed assessments of students' writing and math performance. The results of longitudinal SNA suggested that the RBI was associated with friend selection and peer influence within the classroom peer network. Friendship choices were significantly more diverse (i.e., less evidence of social segregation as a function of ethnicity and academic ability) in intervention compared to control classrooms, and peer influence on improved writing and math performance was observed in RBI but not control classrooms. The current findings provide initial evidence that SEL interventions may change social processes in a classroom peer network and may break down barriers of social segregation and improve academic performance.

Dyadic Instruction for Middle School Students: Liking Promotes Learning.

This study examines whether friendship facilitates or hinders learning in a dyadic instructional setting. Working in 80 same-sex pairs, 160 (60 girls, 100 boys) middle school students (M = 12.13 years old) were taught a new computer programming language and programmed a game. Students spent 14 to 30 (M = 22.7) hours in a programming class. At the beginning and the end of the project, each participant separately completed (a) computer programming knowledge assessments and (b) questionnaires rating their affinity for their partner. Results support the proposition that liking promotes learning: Greater partner affinity predicted greater subsequent increases in computer programming knowledge for both partners. One partner's initial programming knowledge also positively predicted the other partner's subsequent partner affinity.

Self-reported rates of interpersonal conflict vary as a function of questionnaire format: why age-related trends in disagreement (and other events) may not be what they seem.

Two studies examine whether self-reports of interpersonal conflict differ as a function of how the question is asked. In Study 1, 56 U.S. college students (M = 20.7 years) completed different versions of a questionnaire, four times, at one week intervals. Participants reported more conflicts with the aid of memory prompts than without, an effect that was especially strong when questions focused on events from the previous day. In Study 2, 123 middle-school students (M = 11.08 years) and 128 primary school students (M = 8.2 years) from the same region completed one of two questionnaires describing conflict during the previous day. Children reported more conflicts with memory prompts than without. The effect was twice as strong for younger children than older children. The findings suggest that increases in reports of conflict across the transition into adolescence may be due to improvements in the ability to recall and recount events in the absence of memory cues.

Friend influence and susceptibility to influence on emotions towards math: The role of adolescent temperament.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Peer relationships during adolescence play an important role in shaping academic outcomes. The present study examined friend influences on emotions towards math, as well as the role of temperament in these influences. SAMPLE: The sample consisted of 350 Finnish students (mean age 13.29 years; 64% girls) who were involved in stable friendship dyads from fall to spring of Grade 7. METHODS: In this two-wave study, information on adolescents' temperament (i.e., negative emotionality, extraversion, effortful control) and on seven emotions towards math (i.e., enjoyment, hope, pride, anger, anxiety, shame, hopelessness, and boredom) was collected during grade 7. The data were analysed using longitudinal actor-partner interdependence models. RESULTS: The results showed that friends resembled each other in all the investigated math-related emotions. Furthermore, over and above these initial similarities, friends mutually influenced each other's math-related enjoyment and anger towards math. Students characterized by higher negative emotionality also influenced their friends with lower levels of negative emotionality towards an increase in math-related anger and a lack of effortful control made adolescents more susceptible to friend influence over math-related shame and anxiety. CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate that friends influence each other over time in math-related enjoyment and frustration. Furthermore, high negative emotionality may make adolescents more influential over their friends' math-related anger and a lack of effortful control may make adolescents more susceptible to friend influence over math-related shame and anxiety. Thus, the current findings have implications for how peer relations may impact individual outcomes in mathematics, for better or worse.

Differing gender diverse children have differing experiences with same- and other-gender peers.

How gender diversity is exhibited varies: some individuals feel similar to the other gender; others experience little similarity to either gender, and some feel similar to both genders. For children, do these variations relate to differing relationships with peers? The goal was to assess whether a community sample of children (884, Mage = 9.04, SD = .90, 51% boys/1 transgender boy; 57% non-Latinx) with differing types of gender diversity have differing relationship experiences and beliefs about same- and other-gender peers. Gender diversity was determined by gender self-concepts (Both-Gender Similar, Cross-Gender Similar, Low-Gender Similar); these were compared among themselves and to gender-typical children (Own-Gender Similar). Results confirmed that children who exhibited differing gender diversity patterns varied in their peer experiences such that gender self-concept matching was found: Children who felt more similar to other-gender peers reported more contact and felt included and efficacious with other-gender peers; children who felt more similar to same-gender peers reported more contact and felt included and efficacious with same-gender peers. These findings suggest that children with two of the atypical patterns (i.e., Cross-Gender and Both-Gender) may experience social benefits that gender typical children do not. These findings illustrate the variability and strengths among gender diverse children.

Assessing Peer Influence and Susceptibility to Peer Influence Using Individual and Dyadic Moderators in a Social Network Context: The Case of Adolescent Alcohol Misuse.

Higher accepted friends are known to influence the alcohol misuse of lower accepted friends, but not the reverse. The present study was designed to address the origins of this influence: Are higher accepted friends particularly influential or are lower accepted friends particularly susceptible to influence? To address this question, we introduce an innovative application of longitudinal social network techniques (RSIENA) designed to distinguish being influential from being susceptible to influence. The results revealed that influence was a product of heightened susceptibility among low accepted adolescents, rather than heightened influence among high accepted adolescents. The findings are consistent with claims that low accepted youth fear the consequences of nonconformity and adjust their behavior to more closely resemble their affiliates.

Being helpful to other-gender peers: School-age children's gender-based intergroup prosocial behaviour.

Promoting prosocial behaviour towards those who are dissimilar from oneself is an urgent contemporary issue. Because children spend much time in same-gender relationships, promoting other-gender prosociality could help them develop more inclusive relationships. Our goals were to better understand the development of school-age children's intergroup prosocial behavior and the extent to which elementary school-age children consider their own and the recipient's gender in prosocial behaviour. Participants included 515 3rd, 4th and 5th graders (263, 51.1% boys, Mageinyears  = 9.08, SD = 1.00) surveyed in the fall (T1) and spring (T2). We assessed children's prosociality using peer nominations. Children became more prosocial toward same-gender peers over time but prosocial behavior toward other-gender peers remained stable. We found that gender mattered: Children showed an ingroup bias in prosociality favouring members of their own-gender group. Having other-gender friendships positively predicted children's prosocial behaviour towards other-gender peers over time. Children's felt similarity to other-gender peers was not directly, but indirectly, related to more prosocial behaviour toward other-gender peers. Findings shed light on potential pathways to fostering school-age children's intergroup prosocial behaviors.

A double-edged sword: Children's intergroup gender attitudes have social consequences for the beholder.

We examined the development of children's positive and negative attitudes toward other-gender peers over 1 year, and explored the longitudinal social consequences of holding positive or negative attitudes on the beholder of these attitudes. Participants were 206 second graders (Mage = 7.18 yrs, SD = .56, 50% girls) and 206 fourth graders (Mage = 9.10 yrs, SD = .66, 44.2% girls) from diverse ethnic racial backgrounds (54.6% White; 17.2% Latinx, 4.4% Black, 5.3% Asian, 2.9% Native American, .7% Pacific Islander, 13.1% other) with average household income ranged from $51,000 to $75,000, and they were assessed in 2 consecutive years. Developmental change was assessed using latent change score analysis, which showed that positive other-gender attitudes increased over time (for boys) whereas negative other-gender attitudes decreased for everyone. Path analyses showed that both positive and negative other-gender attitudes predicted children's perceptions of stressful other-gender interactions and their inclusion expectancies by other-gender peers longitudinally, controlling for same-gender attitudes. We also examined the extent to which the predicted relation between attitudes and inclusion expectancies was mediated by children's perceptions of stressful experiences with other-gender peers. We found that the extent of mediation varied by the type of attitudes and by children's age. Overall, findings contributed to the understanding of the development of children's other-gender attitudes, and underscored the consequences of these attitudes for the beholder of attitudes. This work also sheds light on the discussion of intervention strategies aimed at improving children's gender-based intergroup relations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Contextual variations in associations between measures of aggression and withdrawal and functioning with peers: A replication study.

Data from 790 older school-age (Mage = 10.2 years, SD = 1.2 years) girls (N = 427) and boys from Barranquilla, Colombia (N = 449) and Montréal, Canada (N = 331) were used to replicate findings reported by Valdivia et al. (2005). This prior study revealed contextual variations in the association between two measures of social behavior, specifically aggression and withdrawal, and two measures of effective functioning with peers, specifically sociometric preference and friendship. The Montréal participants were primarily from families with European backgrounds. The ethnicity of the participants from Barranquilla can be described as Latinx/Caribbean. Multilevel analyses provided evidence of replication of place differences only for the associations between measures of aggression and sociometric preference. Stronger negative associations were observed between (a) measures of aggression and sociometric preference, (b) measures of withdrawal and sociometric preference, and (c) withdrawal and friendship in peer groups that were high in collectivism. These findings are interpreted as largely replicating the deep structure of the findings from the Valdivia et al. study. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

A Comparison of Dyadic and Social Network Assessments of Peer Influence.

The present study compares two methods for assessing peer influence: the longitudinal Actor-Partner-Interdependence-Model (L-APIM) and the longitudinal Social Network Analysis Model (L-SNA). The data were drawn from 1,995 (49% girls; 51 % boys) 3rd grade students (Mage=9.68 years). From this sample, L-APIM (n = 206 indistinguishable dyads; n = 187 distinguishable dyads) and L-SNA (n = 1,024 total network members) subsamples were created. Students completed peer nominations and objective assessments of mathematical reasoning in the spring of the 3rd and 4th grades. Patterns of statistical significance differed across analyses. Stable distinguishable and indistinguishable L-APIM dyadic analyses identified reciprocated friend influence such that friends with similar levels of mathematical reasoning influenced one another and friends with higher math reasoning influenced friends with lower math reasoning. L-SNA models with an influence parameter (i.e., average reciprocated alter) comparable to that assessed in L-APIM analyses failed to detect influence effects. Influence effects did emerge, however, with the addition of another, different social network influence parameter (i.e., average alter influence effect). The diverging results may be attributed to differences in the sensitivity of the analyses, their ability to account for structural confounds with selection and influence, the samples included in the analyses, and the relative strength of influence in reciprocated best as opposed to other friendships.