Longitudinal Associations Between Adolescents' Bullying‐Related Indirect Defending, Outsider Behavior, and Peer‐Group Status

During adolescence, youth become more likely to avoid involvement in witnessed bullying and less likely to support victims. It is unknown whether-and how-these bystander behaviors (i.e., outsider behavior and indirect defending) are associated with adolescents' peer-group status (i.e., popularity and social acceptance) over time. Cross-lagged path modeling was used to examine these longitudinal associations in a sample of 313 Dutch adolescents (Mage-T1 = 10.3 years). The results showed that status longitudinally predicted behavior, rather than that behavior predicted status. Specifically, unpopularity predicted outsider behavior and social acceptance predicted indirect defending. These findings suggest that a positive peer-group status can trigger adolescents' provictim stance. However, adolescents may also strategically avoid involvement in witnessed bullying to keep a low social profile

Children’s Feedback Preferences in Response to an Experimentally Manipulated Peer Evaluation Outcome: The Role of Depressive Symptoms

The present study examined the linkage between pre-adolescent children’s depressive symptoms and their preferences for receiving positive vs. negative feedback subsequent to being faced with an experimentally manipulated peer evaluation outcome in real time. Participants (n = 142) ages 10 to 13, played a computer contest based on the television show Survivor and were randomized to either a peer rejection (i.e., receiving the lowest total ‘likeability’ score from a group of peer-judges), a peer success (i.e., receiving the highest score), or a control peer evaluation condition. Children’s self-reported feedback preferences were then assessed. Results revealed that participants assigned to the negative evaluation outcome, relative to either the success or the control outcome, showed a significantly higher subsequent preference for negatively tuned feedback. Contrary to previous work and predictions derived from self-verification theory, children higher in depressive symptoms were only more likely to prefer negative feedback in response to the negative peer evaluation outcome. These effects for depression were not accounted for by either state mood at baseline or mood change in response to the feedback manipulation

How to Get the Biggest Slice of the Cake. A Comparative View of Social Behaviour and Resource Access in Human Children and Nonhuman Primates

Social complexity results from engaging in different classes of social behaviour. The presence of different classes of social behaviour is reflected in multidimensional concepts of social asymmetry, found in both human and nonhuman primates. Based on an overview of such concepts, we propose that three classes of social behaviour are involved in having access to scarce and desired resources: next to aggressive and affiliative behaviour, also action indicating behaviour (i.e., inspire another individual to follow one’s example or intentions) may lead to resource access. Studies with nonhuman primate and human children show that the contribution of aggression and affiliation to resource access has been widely documented and that there is initial support for action indicating behaviour. In addition, the studies show similarities and differences in conceptualization and approach that may inspire future research. Future research should address the (in)dependency of the behavioural dimensions, their relative importance, individual differences in combined expression and the type of resources accessed. Only a multi-dimensional view on behaviour leading to resource access will highlight the benefits of social complexity

Assessing cross-cultural item bias in questionnaires : Acculturation and the Measurement of Social Support and Family Cohesion for Adolescents

Amethod is presented for evaluating the presence and size of cross-cultural item biases. The examined items concern parental support and family cohesion in a Likert-type questionnaire for adolescents in The Netherlands. Each evaluated item has two versions, a collectivist and an individualistic one, that measure the same theoretical construct. The standardized difference between the score means of the item versions, called the ?e score, gives an indication of the cultural bias of the item. As expected, most items were found to yield a higher ?e when respondents scored low on an individualistic scale for acculturation or originated from countries that are (more) collectivist. This procedure is recommended for use in testing items in pilot studies.

Social capital in the classroom: a study of in-class social capital and school adjustment

Social capital is generally considered beneficial for students' school adjustment. This paper argues that social relationships among pupils generate social capital at both the individual and the class levels, and that each has its unique effect on pupils' performance and well-being. The sample in this study consists of 1036 children in 60 first-grade classes in 46 Dutch elementary schools. Multilevel regression results show that a substantial proportion of the variance in school adjustment can be attributed to the class level and that both individual-level and classroom-level social capital have substantial effects on school adjustment. At the individual level, the size of one's network is more important than its structure. At the collective level, social capital also has a dark side' because it can have negative effects on adjustment, lowering the academic performance in a class

Selection patterns, gender and friendship aim in classroom networks.

The social networks of students, and the underlying processes of selection, can have strong effects on their psychological and academic adjustment. The effects of gender, friendship aim (intimacy or social activities) and the combination of gender and friendship aim on selection patterns (student’s activity in selecting new friends, linking with friends of friends, and similarity in behavior) were studied, using two wave data from 741 students (12–14 years old) in 27 freshmen classes in Dutch high schools. Many students did not fit the gender-typical expectations regarding friendship aim (girls preferring intimacy and boys social activities). In most classes, girls who preferred intimacy, and boys who preferred social activity, were more active in engaging in new friendships than the other girls and boys. Girls who preferred intimacy more often befriended classmates who were similar in school behaviors, whereas boys who preferred social activities more often befriended dissimilar classmates. We discuss these findings with regard to their implications for academic adjustment in terms of academic performance and wellbeing