Monday, September 24, 2007

Which group were you?!

I've just been reading a few journal articles to see what sort of research is out there about popularity within schools. I found one article which summarises 5 groups which are generally found within schools

  • Popular- peers perceive them as social leaders
  • Average status- they are not considered leaders and not rejected by peers
  • Controversial- sometimes showing leadership skills but at times can be aggressive
  • Neglected- usually are withdrawn or neglected by peers
  • Rejected- actively unaccepted or shunned by the rest of the peer group

Gumpel, T. S. & Ish-Shalom, K. V. (2003). How do young adults remember their social status? A retrospective analysis of peer rejection in childhood and adolenscence, and protective factors predictive factors predictive of its remission, 6,(2). 129-157

4 comments:

Jessica said...

Hi Kara,

I think that out of these five groups, I fell into the average status group throughout high school. I never really sought or desired to be popular in school, but social acceptance was definitely important to me, particularly among my friendship group. I was often happiest when I was in my small clique of friends, having a few, close relationships. It is interesting though, while I felt socially accepted when I was with my friends, when I was with other classmates, I tended to feel more withdrawn, probably falling into the neglected group more. My general sense of acceptance has however definitely been influenced by the context or situations I have been in. I think your second blog is going to be very interesting, as socialising in peer groups is something that everyone can relate to. Good luck with your second blog, and I look forward to hearing more of your views on peer popularity and acceptance thoughout the semester :)

James Neill said...

Hmmm...interesting groupings; I'm not sure I recall fitting into any of these categories; I recall being reasonably popular within a small cohort, which was in itself as I recall relatively unpopular! Complex topic.

Mike said...

I'm not really sure what people thought of me at school. In my group I was reasonably well liked but i'm not sure what everyone else thought of my little gang. We definitely weren't the tough nuts!

Erin said...

Hi Kara,

I will be interested in seeing your research on your blog 2 topic. In high school I never considered myself to be "popular" as I viewed the people who I thought were as having things that I didn't such as looks, boys and good sporting skills. When I look back at this now, I wonder what ever possessed me to consider these people to be popular. My idea of popularity today is much different that it was back in high school. I suppose I would consider being smart and having a great personality as being part of popularity as opposed to the quite shallow reasons for popularity that I held back in high school. Looking forward to reading more Kara!