ERIC Number: EJ1051764
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Aug
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0012-1649
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Social Goals, Aggression, Peer Preference, and Popularity: Longitudinal Links during Middle School
Ojanen, Tiina; Findley-Van Nostrand, Danielle
Developmental Psychology, v50 n8 p2134-2143 Aug 2014
Social goals are associated with behaviors and adjustment among peers. However, it remains unclear whether goals predict adolescent social development. We examined prospective associations among goals, physical and relational aggression, social preference, and popularity during middle school (N = 384 participants, ages 12-14 years). Agentic (status, power) goals predicted increased relational aggression and communal (closeness) goals predicted decreased physical aggression. Popularity predicted increases and preference predicted decreases in both forms of aggression. Goals moderated longitudinal links between aggression and popularity: Aggression predicted increases in popularity and vice versa for youth with higher agentic goals, and popularity predicted increases in physical aggression for youth with higher agentic and lower communal goals. Implications for research on social goals, aggression, and popularity are discussed.
Descriptors: Social Influences, Goal Orientation, Peer Influence, Peer Relationship, Middle School Students, Correlation, Aggression, Preferences, Social Status, Power Structure, Predictor Variables, Longitudinal Studies, Foreign Countries, Grade 7, Grade 8, Grade 9, Social Cognition, Factor Analysis, Statistical Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Middle Schools; Secondary Education; Junior High Schools; Grade 7; Elementary Education; Grade 8; Grade 9; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Finland
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Author Affiliations: N/A