Perceived popularity, relational aggression, and victimization among middle school children

Aggressive acts (e.g., bullying) within the peer group have become more prevalent in schools, so it is important to investigate the underlying functions of aggression in schools to decrease school violence. Children at both extremes of the social status hierarchy are the most aggressive in schools. Some popular youth may use relational aggression as a means to achieve or maintain the high social status that they value. In contrast, unpopular youth may use relational aggression as a way to retaliate for being repeatedly victimized by the peer group. The purpose of this study was to investigate how valuing popularity and level of victimization might moderate or mediate the relationship between perceived popularity and aggression.;This study involved 177 participants from a middle school in southern California with a diverse ethnic breakdown (e.g., 54% Caucasian, 28% Latino). The Peer Nomination Instrument (adapted from Crick & Grotpeter, 1995; Crick & Bigbee, 1998; Vaillancourt, 2001; LaFontana & Cillessen, 2002) assessed perceived popularity, aggression, and victimization based on peer reports. The Social Experience Questionnaire (Crick & Grotpeters, 1996), a self-report measure, also assessed victimization. A Valuing of Peer-Valued Characteristics measure developed for this study assessed the extent to which participants' valued popularity. All these measures demonstrated acceptable reliability and construct validity.;Results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated a significant relationship between relational aggression and valuing popularity moderated by the adolescent's level of popularity. Specifically, among high popular adolescents, participants' valuing of popularity was related to lower rates of relational aggression. Similar results were found with overt aggression. Contrary to hypotheses, there was a negative relationship between unpopularity and relational aggression and no relationship between self-reported victimization and unpopularity. However, self-reported overt victimization was a significant predictor of overt aggression for females. Results also found significant gender differences for relationships between aggression and victimization and between perceived popularity and victimization.;Clinical implications for school settings to help reduce youth involvement in peer-related aggressive activities are discussed. Intervention programs should target relationally aggressive students by looking at different subgroups of adolescents based on perceived popularity and gender as they may require different types of interventions.