3-036 - Popularity heterogeneity: Distinctions between types of popular youth and among those who affiliate with them

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

We must understand distinctions between forms of popularity if we are to make sense of contradictory findings concerning the correlates of popularity (Mayeux, Sandstrom, & Cillessen, 2008). Popularity has been tied to positive and negative outcomes (De Bruyn & Cillessen, 2006), which suggests considerable heterogeneity among those described as popular. The papers in this symposium shed new light on different forms of popularity and on the characteristics of those who affiliate with popular youth.

Three longitudinal studies describe what it means to be popular, using samples from French-speaking Canada, South Florida, and Lithuania. The first identifies three discrete forms of popularity, providing evidence for a bistrategic group of popular youth who use prosocial means to mitigate the effects of their coercive behavior (Hawley, 1999). The second describes the friendships of popular adolescents. Popular youth tend to become friends with other popular youth, particularly if they are also relationally aggressive, suggesting that those who manipulate others to control resources seek the company of those who are similarly social controllers (Cillessen, 2011). The third examines the characteristics of those who form new affiliations with aggressive popular youth. Consistent with descriptive studies identifying groups of “troublemakers” (Rodkin et al., 2000) and “burnouts” (Eckert, 1989), the followers of aggressive-popular adolescents tend to be disenfranchised from school and dismissive of adult culture.

Popular youth are a heterogeneous lot, with a unique set of salient characteristics. These characteristics are a reflection of their social world, describing how resources are allocated and how peer affiliates are selected.

Sub Unit

• Social Relationships

Chair

• Brett Laursen, Florida Atlantic University

Discussant

• Patricia H. Hawley, Texas Tech University

Individual Presentations

• A Longitudinal Latent Profile Analysis of Adolescent Popularity: A Test of the Bistrategic Hypothesis - Presenting Author: Amy C. Hartl, Florida Atlantic University; Brett Laursen, Florida Atlantic University; Frank Vitaro, University of Montreal; Stéphane Cantin, University of Montreal

• Sources of Popularity: Aggressive Strategists and the Adolescents Who Are Attracted to Them - Presenting Author: Cody Hiatt, Innovation Research and Training; Rita Žukauskienė, Mykolas Romeris University

• Friend selection: I’m popular, you're smart, why aren’t we friends? - Presenting Author: Fanny-Alexandra Guimond, Florida Atlantic University; Brett Laursen, Florida Atlantic University; William M. Bukowski, Concordia University