Adolescents’ Social Status Among Peer Group

Social status among peer group is a central part of the development of adolescents’ social competence. Recent studies have indicated that social status contains two correlated dimensions. One dimension is peer acceptance, which refers to interpersonal likeability and peer preference. Another is popularity, which refers to common attitude or consensual perception of one’s status among peer group. To date, little effort has been made to explore the popularity of Chinese adolescents, and the literatures documented contradictory conclusions caused by the inconsistent measurements of popularity.The purpose of the present study aims to conduct a comprehensive exploration of the concept and measurement of popularity in Chinese adolescence, and its relationship with related social behavior and mental health. Participants were1058students (mean age=16.7) from25classes of6high schools in mainland China. Peer acceptance, popularity and social behaviors were assessed by peer nomination, while social esteem and emotional problem were evaluated with self-report questionnaires. Data analysis confirmed the existence of two dimensions of social status. Then, we compared the predicting effect for some social prerogatives (i.e. leadership, social control,&coolness, etc.) to determine an accurate measurement of popularity. Based on these findings, we clustered the sample into six groups with different position in social status hierarchy, and portrayed the social behaviors and mental health profiles for each group. Further, the relationship between popularity, aggression, prosocial behaviors, rule-breaking behavior, attractiveness and other variables were examined.Specifically, the present study mainly achieved the findings as follows:1. Peer acceptance and popularity were both dimensions of Chinese adolescents’ social status. Likeability nomination and influence nomination was respectively accurate measurement of them.2. Peer acceptance was connected with positive social behaviors, such as prosocial behaviors and obeying rules. In contrast, popularity was connected with both positive and negative behaviors, such as relational aggression, physical aggression, rule-breaking behaviors, attractiveness, and so forth.3. Popular groups contained both prosocial and antisocial subtypes, while unpopular ones included both aggressive and withdraw subtypes.4. Popularity predicted higher social esteem and less emotional disorders. However, the positive link between popularity and antisocial behaviors increased the risk of external problems.In conclusion, popularity is positively correlated with both positive and negative behaviors, convincing that prosocial strategy and antisocial strategy can both become effective means of competing popularity. In addition, influence of sex roles, together with the admiration of mature and autonomy, determines the image of popular teenagers. The results were discussed in the light of theories of dominance and prestige among adolescence.