Peer Status and Group Entry

1
Peer Status andGroup Entry

• in Middle Childhood

Michael Hoerger
2
Importance of Friendships

• 10 of children have few or no close friends
• Peer interaction is not a superficial luxury to
  be enjoyed by some children and not by others,
  but is a necessity in childhood socialization.

3
Outcomes of Poor Social Skills

• As Children
• Bad grades/dropout, social avoidance, mistreated
  by peers, delinquency
• As Adults
• Psychological problems, social anxiety, suicide

4
Sample Study

• Gather boys for 8 hour-long sessions
• 8 boys per group, with groups shuffled
• Structured and free play
• Raters code through two-way mirror
• Sociometric ratings made
• Found 5 social status groups

5
Social Status Groups

1. Popular well-liked, social hub
2. Controversial love / hate
3. Average the leftovers
4. Neglected ignored, isolated
5. Rejected disliked

6
(No Transcript)
7
Controversial
Popular
Average
Rejected
Neglected
8
Popular

• Most attractive
• Leaders
• Good at sharing
• Make suggestions, but not aggressive
• Possessive of objects, but can get away with it
• Least likely to be reprimanded

9
Controversial

• Prefer to spend little time in solitary play
• Highly cooperative aggressive
• Most reprimanded
• Generally have some saving grace (high
  intelligence, comic, etc.) that keeps them from
  social rejection

10
Neglected

• Talk too much at first and then get ignored
• Not hated (unlike the rejected group)
• Respond well to a new environment

11
Rejected

• Aggressive, inappropriate play, hostile, start
  arguments
• Possessive of objects, and cant get away with it
  (unlike populars)
• Dont stay on task

12
Entering a Peer Group

• Applies to joining groups, making friends,
  interacting in meetings, getting dates
• Rejection is the norm
• Predictors of success
• Sit back and watch before joining in
• Make relevant or productive comments
• Dont mind rejection

13

• Often, though not always, the people who do not
  like us are the same people that we do not
  especially like
• --Gershen Kaufman

14

• Michael Hoerger
• To cite this lecture
• Hoerger, M. (2007, February 26). Peer Status and
  Group Entry. Presented at a PSY 220 lecture at
  Central Michigan University.