Research has shown that popularity is very important to a child. Popularity is more than just making friends but shows status and can be measured on a scale. Prominence is also important to a child and can be measured with other social domains. Children will prioritize being popular than other aspects of their social lives such as fixing friendships or maintaining acquaintances. Especially Sullivan has written many theories about friendships and popularity in children. It is more important to be popular in a group of friends rather than just having a lot of friends, or just having a few important friends. Adolescents have rather complicated goals when it comes to making friends. Popularity is usually a personal aspect that children do not talk about publicly but everyone wants.
According to theories about popularity, popularity is a selective process that must happen for children to be included in a specific group. These groups are usually looked up upon other students although they may be vocally talked down upon. Many adolescents may make fun of other “clicks” when interpersonally they would like to be part of it. Children drive on status, which is automatically given to them if they are associated with a popularity group. Popularity has a large impact on children of all ages and once children realize the concept of popularity, they want it. Within the study, two questions are asked. How is popularity related to the behavior of obtaining it and how the behavior of becoming popular affects the actual outcome of it? There may be specific behaviors that are associated with becoming popular or having popularity as a very specific goal that a student wants. Aggression and popularity perception have both been grouped together when tr...
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...e interaction between their personal status, goal, and aggression connected to becoming a popular student. Physical aggression was also used from students with low popularity priority but increased their popularity throughout the end of the year. Students that began with low-popularity status were known as a wannabee. These students are expected to have no chance on obtaining a goal of high popularity status.
The study only used one variable to measure the amount of behavior to become a popular student. In future studies, more measurements can be added to see if the results are similar or if precision was correct in the first study. Popularity is a relevant topic to still be studied in adolescents due to its high priority overall during student behavior. The study concluded that, including social aggression, other behaviors are factors during adolescent popularity.
The Geeks Shall Inherit The Earth is a book by Alexandra Robbins which summarizes the story of seven different teenagers that have many different problems, which many of todays teenagers also have. I found myself having many similarities to the teenagers in the story, for example, when with her group Whitney, the popular bitch, thinks “You didn't day that when we were alone, but now that you're in front of a group you do” (Robbins 21). I can relate to this because I feel as though many people are pressured to say or do things they normally wouldn't whenever they are with their group or ‘clique’. Robbins has this idea that the freaks and geeks, or “cafeteria fringe” will someday grow up and use what they are criticized for to become more successful than the other peopler people. She calls this the ‘Quirk Theory’ (Robbins page 11). This helped me to learn that right now, in high school, not being ‘popular’ may seem like the end of the world, but the reality of it is that after these four years, it wont even matter, but what will be important is how you learned to grow as a person and the true friendships that were made. This makes me want to focus more on my education and learning to grow as a person instead of focusing on how many friends I have or who I sit with at lunch, because truthfully it wont matter once high school is over.
The stereotype commonly associated with bullying is indefinitely the “Queen Bee”. In playing this role, “Queen Bees” gain a sense of power over the other girls within the clique. They enjoy the fact that the others feel as though they must pay homage to them. However, “Queen Bees” lose a real sense of self, and become cynical of their position. Often, they wonder if people only speak to them as a result of their popularity or looks. The simple fact that they feel as though they must routinely exert their power over the others, proves that their actions are spurred from a place of loneliness.When they are able to control others, it proves to them that they are still better than everyone else. This pattern repeats, as they are constantly in need of reassurance, and surround themselves with people who will do so. Often the recipient of the bullying, are the “Targets”. Commonly meek and insecure, they provide the weakness that the “Queen Bees” need to prey upon. For instance, should a “Target” come to school wearing a new pair of shoes that a “Queen Bee” envies, the “Queen Bees” will incessantly call the “Targets” names and make fun of their shoes. This will eventually cause “Targets” to leave or feel so terribly that they will take the shoes off in hopes of the nonsense coming to a stop. This causes “Targets” to feel worthless and unvalued. As one can see, bullying is a terrible form of peer pressure in which both the administrator and recipient suffer negatively
In many high schools, there is an unspoken social order amongst peer groups; teenagers are either included in the popular group or the unpopular group. These social standings are determined by the popular group whether they will accept certain people based on shared interests and values but mainly on appearance. For example, some groups may isolate a student who does not have clothing considered attractive enough. Teenagers belonging to the popular clique label individuals as outcasts who do not fit the clique’s standards of a perfect appearance. This repression can cause a build up of anger if an outcast seeks to be accepted into that popular group.
Friendships are vital in helping children develop emotionally and socially. They provide a training ground for trying out different ways of relating to others. Through interacting with friends, children learn the give and take of social behavior in general. They learn how to set up rules, how to weigh alternatives and make decisions when faced with dilemmas. They experience fear, anger, aggression and rejection. They learn how to win, how to lose, what's appropriate, what's not. They learn about social standing and power - who's in, who's out, how to lead and how to follow, what's fair and what's not. They learn that different people and different situations call for different behaviors and they come to understand the viewpoints of other people.
Is adolescence really about fitting in or not standing out? Do you have any responsibility to those students who do not fit in? Do you hear that? Hush, and listen closely. Do you hear it now? The cries for help of the kids who don’t fit in with the crowd. The cries aren’t always loud. Sometimes they don’t make a sound. Stop and listen to them. Take responsibility for those kids and stand up for those kids who won’t stand up for themselves.
Witvliet, M., Olthof, T., Hoeksma, J. B., Goossens, F. A., Smits, M. I., & Koot, H. M. (2010). Peer Group Affiliation of Children: The Role of Perceived Popularity, Likeability, and Behavioral Similarity in Bullying. Social Development, 19(2), 285-303. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2009.00544.x
Conformity means a change in one’s behavior due to the real or imagined influence of other people. As a teenager, the pressure to conform to the societal “norm” plays a major role in shaping one’s character. Whether this means doing what social groups want or expect you to do or changing who you are to fit in. During class, we watched films such as Mean Girls, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and The Breakfast Club which demonstrate how the pressure to conform into society can change who you are. In the movies we have seen, conformity was most common during high school.
As an individual stuck amidst a foundation known for its propensity to breed social congruity, college has opened my eyes to numerous distinctive reasons why individuals decide to act in ways they wouldn't regularly act. Since they ordinarily aren't certain of their character, adolescents are more inclined to similarity than others. In the most essential structure, college is tormented with congruity through the generalizations that learners seek after and explore different avenues regarding trying to uncover their personality. There are two sorts of Conformity: the kind that makes you do your errands when your father authorizes you to, and the less than great kind in which you aimlessly take after the thoughts and tenets of an inner circle or gathering, without addressing the negative impacts it has upon yourself and the improvement of whatever remains of public opinion. Conformity is basic in that people strive for a feeling of strength and acknowledgement in their lives. As a result of this need, “we therefore figure out how to fit in with principles of other individuals. What's more the more we see others carrying on in a certain manner or settling on specific choices, the more we feel obliged to stick to this same pattern.” Despite the freedoms we are supposed to have in American society most adolescents find it difficult to have their own identity.
A large majority of teens want to fit in and feel like they belong, but how far are they willing to go to fit in? The more they want to fit in the more likely they will be easily influenced by suggestions from others. During my second week of eighth grade, I felt like I wasn’t fitting in and that everyone was silently judging me and criticizing me. Of course now that I think about I don’t think anyone really cared about me, but I was more self-conscious about myself then. One day during lunch my friends and I sat next to a couple of girls who were known as the “popular” girls and I thought that maybe I would fit in more if I was friends with them. I spent the rest of that lunch hour trying to build up the courage to talk to them and at last minute I told the friendliest looking girl, that I loved her shirt and I asked her what store she bought it from. She told me that it was from Free People; she then gushed about the store and told me how everything there was amazing. She suggested that I should check it out sometime so I did. I, of course couldn’t wait to shop there. I told myself that if I shopped at Free People, I could maybe fit in with her and even be a part of the popu...
One of the most important psychological aspects is self-esteem; how people view themselves and their self-worth. It affects one 's personality, happiness and personal well-being. Self-esteem is defined as the "confidence in one 's own worth or abilities; self-respect" ("Self Esteem", 2010, p. 1615). With access to the internet and media twenty-four hours of the day, teenagers begin to take in and believe what is said on social media; believing that is what they are supposed to be, listening to other teenagers who do not have as much knowledge and experience dealing with self-esteem rather than parents. The self-esteem of young adolescences was usually stable before the media became more involved in the lives of teenagers and now their self-esteem
Kosten, P. A., Scheier, L. M., & Grenard, J. L. (2012). Latent class analysis of peer conformity: Who is yielding to pressure and why?, Youth & Society, 45, 565-590. DOI 10.1177/0044118X12454307
“Kids who had lower (athletic) confidence said they were more lonely at school” (Dunn 1). When teens have a higher self esteem, they tend to feel more confident in who they are and what they are doing. Teens who are confident in themselves tend to make friends easier, because they appear to their peers that they are confident in what they are doing and people who are confident appeal more to people then those who are not. “Children and adolescents often make friends with others on their sports teams, or in their activity programs, and these friendships help keep them involved in the activity, and make the activity more fun” (Brehm 258). Furthermore, friends that are made on a sports team result in a strong friendship because teens can have fun with their new friends during practice or games. Some will argue that sports can cause athletes to become more likely to do drugs than students who do not do sports. While this might be the case, sports do in fact keep teens out of trouble because sports provide more opportunities to make new friends. “At some schools, it is cool to be an athlete. And students who are lucky enough to become athletes receive reinforcement from their peers” (Brehm 258). Popularity and making friends in middle school and throughout high school is something most teens struggle with. However, if teens play on
Several studies have demonstrated associations between perceived popularity and aggression (Prinstein & Cillessen, 2003; Sandstrom & Cillessen, 2006; Cillessen & Mayeux, 2004). In a study conducted by Cillessen and Mayeux (2004) perceived popularity positively predicted relational aggression, and relational aggression positively predicted perceived popularity between grade 6 and grade 8. Perceived popularity has also been associated with higher levels of aggression over time. Sandstrom and Cillesse...
Many adolescents display qualities of social interest (Ballou, 2002) such as self-worth, self-assurance, involvement in community, and encouragement of others. However, the adolescents who display traits of selfish tendencies, including the need to dominate, refusal to cooperate, desire to take not give, greater concern with self than community (Durbin, 2004), will be perceived as socially useless. Roger Ballou discusses this by stating some youth, “become discouraged either because of unfortunate life situations or despite the quality of their upbringing. Some teens become demoralized in their attempt to find their place in life and instead decide to pursue mistaken beliefs” (2002, p.
Influence plays a major role in their overall development. Promoting social and emotional skills and intervening in cases of difficulty very early in life will be effective for promoting positive experiences among children. Peers play important roles in children’s lives at much earlier points in development. Experiences in the beginning of life have implications for children’s acceptance by their classmates in nursery school and the later school years. When I was in the fourth grade a really wanted to be accepted by people around me. I would switch my friends a lot looking for people’s approval. For example, if I was friends with a girl on Tuesday but I heard someone say she was weird I would abandon the friendship in order to gain peer approval. Early friendships and positive relations with peer groups appear to protect children against later psychological