Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Popular Children

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

  • 64 Accesses

Synonyms

High status; Peer acceptance; Social dominance; Well-liked

Definition

Children or adolescents who are well-liked and/or admired by their peers.

Introduction

Status in the peer group is a central concept to be addressed when studying children and youth. Specifically, it is important to consider the distinction between a dyadic friendship and the greater overall acceptance of the broader peer group. A common method used to determine peer status is to ask children how much they like or dislike children in his/her class and then use this information to calculate an individual’s sociometric status (or peer acceptance, in essence, how much they are liked or disliked by their peers as a whole). One of the groups children can be classified into is “popular children,” and research has discussed this group in two categories. First, sociometric popularity is conceptualized by how liked an individual is by their peers and is generally associated with prosocial behaviors, whereas perceived...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Chen, X., Rubin, K. H., & Li, D. (1997). Relation between academic achievement and social adjustment: Evidence from Chinese children. Developmental Psychology, 33(3), 518–525.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cillessen, A. H. N., & Mayeux, L. (2004). From censure to reinforcement: Developmental changes in the association between aggression and social status. Child Development, 75(1), 147–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cillessen, A. H., & Rose, A. J. (2005). Understanding popularity in the peer system. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14(2), 102–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Bruyn, E. H., Cillessen, A. H. N., & Wissink, I. B. (2010). Associations of peer acceptance and perceived popularity with bullying and victimization in early adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence, 30(4), 543–566.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, B. J., Volk, A. A., Gonzalez, J. M., & Embry, D. D. (2016). The meaningful roles intervention: An evolutionary approach to reducing bullying and increasing prosocial behavior. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 26, 622–637.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawley, P. H. (2003). Strategies of control, aggression, and morality in preschoolers: An evolutionary perspective. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 85, 213–235. https://doi-org.proxy.library.brocku.ca/10.1016/S0022-0965(03)00073-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Litwack, S. D., Aikins, J. W., & Cillessen, A. H. (2012). The distinct roles of sociometric and perceived popularity in friendship: Implications for adolescent depressive affect and self-esteem. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 32(2), 226–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nolan, S. A., Flynn, C., & Garber, J. (2003). Prospective relations between rejection and depression in young adolescents. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(4), 745.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prinstein, M. J., Choukas-Bradley, S. C., Helms, S. W., Brechwald, W. A., & Rancourt, D. (2011). High peer popularity longitudinally predicts adolescent health risk behavior, or does it?: An examination of linear an quadratic associations. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 36(9), 980–990.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spadafora, N., Marini, Z., & Volk, A. (2018). Should I defend or should I go? An adaptive, qualitative examination of the costs and benefits associated with bullying intervention. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, published online.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg, L., & Monahan, K. C. (2007). Age differences in resistance to peer influence. Developmental Psychology, 43(6), 1531–1543.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Volk, A. A., Dane, A. V., & Marini, Z. A. (2014). What is bullying? A theoretical redefinition. Developmental Review, 34, 327–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child and Youth Studies, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada

    Natalie Spadafora

  2. Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada

    Nivetha Prabaharan

Authors
  1. Natalie Spadafora
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nivetha Prabaharan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Natalie Spadafora .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, MI, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Tara DeLecce

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Spadafora, N., Prabaharan, N. (2020). Popular Children. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_179-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_179-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation