Background: Previous studies have shown that when young people witness bullying, perceived social norms of their peer group affect their behavior. However, few studies have examined the specificity of norm misperception (i.e., overestimation of peer antisocial responses and the underestimation of prosocial responses relative to the objective group…

Much of the work on body image socialization masks the potentially unique influence of different socializers, yet clearer understanding of socialization mechanisms and ideological context aid intervention efforts. We explored how fathers, female peers, male peers, and adolescent boys themselves produce different levels of internalized…

The study attempted to assess teachers' and administrators' perceptions about the concepts of ethical behavior and attitude. Mainly due to the study a multidimensional instrument for administrators' and teachers' Ethic Behaviour and Attitude Scale (EBA) was developed and validated. Through confirmatory factor analysis, EBA was validated in two…

Social norms are vital for the functioning of adolescent peer groups; they can protect the well-being of groups and individual members, often by deterring harmful behaviors, such as aggression, through enforcement mechanisms like peer victimization; in adolescent peer groups, those who violate aggression norms are often subject to victimization.…

This article examined the psychometric properties and validity of a new self-report instrument for assessing the social norms that coordinate social relations and define self-worth within three normative systems. A survey that assesses endorsement of honor, face, and dignity norms was evaluated in ethnically diverse adolescent samples in the U.S.…

This study aimed to validate the Chinese School Attendance Reason Scale (CSARS) for assessing junior high students' reasons for school attendance and examine the relationship between school attendance and school adjustment among Chinese students. Participants included three independent samples of 1,235 students from four Chinese provinces.…

Evidence of cultural comparisons of gender-identity-measurement scales is scarce. The present study aims to assess the scalar invariance of two dimensions of a widely used gender identity scale (Egan and Perry's Multidimensional Gender Identity Inventory) across two cultural contexts. Fourth, sixth, and fifth graders from Barranquilla (Colombia)…

Discourses of achievement often overlook the interdependence of classroom contexts, students' identities, and academic performance. This narrative analysis explores how high-achieving students of color construct identities-in-practice in a diverse urban middle school. By documenting explicit moments in which students construct…

Although attitudes strongly predict later sexual behaviors, few studies have investigated the factors that influence early adolescent attitudes toward sex. Using a general population sample of urban seventh-grade students (N = 1,736), we examined how supportive parenting, television viewing, perceived social norms, and having a friend and/or…

The current study was designed to examine the ways in which perceived behavioral norms among grade mates and school social climate vary across the transition to middle school. The main goals of the study were to test whether Latino students may be more sensitive to the school social climate than White students and whether perceived behavioral…

In 2007-08 and 2008-09, 2,500 randomly-selected middle school students completed an annual survey on school climate and character development. In examining differences based upon grade, gender, race/ethnicity, school, and length of program participation, significant differences were found for all but length of program participation. Responses of…