2-113 - Perspectives on Status in the Classroom Social Ecology: A Tribute to the Legacy of Phil Rodkin

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

The classroom social ecology is a dynamic, self-organized system that provides a critical setting for children’s social, emotional and cognitive development. Phil Rodkin dedicated his career to understanding the classroom social ecology by integrating theories from social, developmental and educational psychology, developing novel empirical strategies and training young scholars from around the world to carry on this work. In this memorial tribute to Professor Rodkin, works by his current and former students (from the U.S., Korea, Chile, Indonesia and Russia) highlight his enduring contributions to the study of how dynamics related to status, gender and ethnicity impact the degree to which children are liked, disliked, and bullied in classrooms. The first presentation, which considers developmental changes in liking and disliking among same- and other–ethnicity classmates in the elementary grades, reveals increasing ethnic segregation across grade levels (particularly for African American children). The second presentation draws on a Chilean sample of 5th – 7th graders to clarify how Machiavellianism, popularity, and classroom prestige norms are related to bullying: multi-level models revealed that Machiavellianism and prestige norms interacted to predict bullying. The third presentation relates the degree of the hierarchical stratification in each classroom’s bullying ‘pecking order’ to classroom norms regarding popularity and aggression. The fourth presentation examines associations between aggression and popularity across a school year: findings indicate that popularity is more robustly associated with between-person rather than within-person vatiations in aggression. Discussion will reflect on these empirical contributions and Professor Rodkin’s broader legacy in the study of classroom social ecologies.

Sub Unit

• Social Relationships

Chairs

• Laura D Hanish, Arizona State Univ

• Scott D. Gest, Penn State Univeristy

Individual Presentations

• Age Differences in Classroom-based Intergroup Biases During Middle Childhood - Presenting Author: Travis M Wilson, Oberlin College; Marina Serdiouk, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Handrea A Logis, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Whitney Street, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Scott D. Gest, Penn State Univeristy

• Why do early adolescents bully? The moderation of prestige peer norms on social and psychological motivations - Presenting Author: Christian Berger, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; SIMONA CARLA SILVIA CARAVITA, Universita' Cattolica

• Who bullies whom? : The pecking order in elementary school classrooms and its effects on classroom social norms - Presenting Author: Hai-Jeong Ahn, Korean Educational Development Institute; Scott D. Gest, Penn State Univeristy

• The Aggression-Popularity Association among Elementary School Children: Effects of Between-Person and Within-Person Aggression - Presenting Author: Handrea A Logis, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Scott D. Gest, Penn State Univeristy; Daniel Berry, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign