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This study tests the hypothesis that peer rejection acts as a social regulation mechanism by reinforcing conformity to group norms, particularly those related to direct and indirect aggression. The sample consisted of 682 boys and girls (Mage 10.21 years) which was divided into three sub-groups: girls in all-girls schools, girls in mixed-sex schools, and boys in mixed-sex schools. Within-sex difference analyses indicated that indirect aggression was more normative than direct aggression for girls; conversely, direct aggression was more normative that indirect aggression for boys. In line with the view that non-normative behaviors are penalized by peers via rejection, direct aggression was more strongly associated with rejection in female groups whereas indirect aggression was more strongly related to rejection in male groups. Specific comparisons of the girls from the all-girl and the mixed–sex schools did not reveal any differences in the normativeness of either type of aggression between these contexts. Consistent with this result, no differences between types of school were found in the extent to which both forms of aggression were associated with rejection in females. This study shows that peer rejection occurs to a higher extent when group members engage in behaviors that are non-normative for their sex group, and that this process does not seem to vary as a function of the availability of a social comparison, as in mixed-sex schools.

How early adolescents characterize their friendships has yet to be fully explored. The current report examines this issue from two different models of friend selection (the similarity model vs. the features model). Friendship choice order was examined as a function of prosocial and aggressive behavior of the friend. Using multi-level modeling, we tested whether these associations differed based on the individual's prosocial and aggressive behavior. Finally, contextual variables such as individualism and collectivism were also used to explain same-sex peer group differences. Data was collected from 420 early adolescents (Mage 9.49 years, SD .67; 124 male, 296 female) from six all-girls classes and six mixed-sex classes from Bogotá, Colombia. Interactions between friend and individual prosocial behavior and aggression were observed. In sum, the results provided support for both the similarity model and the features model of friendship and contextual differences were observed as a function of peer group levels of individualism and collectivism. The discussion highlights the novelty of this research question and methodological approach and offers potential future directions.

The idea of successful development is used as the conceptual platform for a proposal that three basic principles of developmental science be expanded. Specifically, we propose that (a) developmental science needs to be reframed as a guide for what successful development is and how it is manifested at different times of the life course; (b) that the integrative emphasis of developmental science needs to emphasize the intersection of developmental domains as well as the integration of concepts from other disciplines; and (c) that careful distinctions need to be made between the life span approach (i.e., research focused on processes within one moment of the life course) and the life history approach (i.e., understanding stability and change across part of the life course). It is argued that the concept of successful development can be used to enrich developmental science.

Stability and change in early adolescents' friendship conceptions were examined in a one-year longitudinal study. Once during sixth grade, and again during seventh grade, 99 girls and 98 boys were asked to rate 14 items according to how important each item was for friendship. These items were grouped according to the results of a factor analysis into three clusters referred to as Commonality, Help/Support, and Intimacy. A multivariate analysis of variance, followed by planned comparisons and simple effects tests, revealed: (a) a decrese over time in the importance ascribed to the Commonality cluster; (b) a decrease over time in the boys' ratings on the Help/Support cluster, but no change in the girls' ratings on this cluster; (c) no change over time in the ratings on the Intimacy cluster; (d) higher ratings from the girls than the boys for the Intimacy and Help/Support clusters, with the differences on the Help/Support cluster becoming larger over time; and (e) relatively higher ratings for the Help/Support cluster than for the Intimacy or Commonality clusters. The correlations computed between respective clusters across the one year interval indicate a moderate degree of stability in early adolescents' friendship conceptions. These results are discussed in light of previous research on children's friendship conceptions and in regard to the social experiences of boys and girls during early adolescence.

Sex differences in children's impressions of the features of friendship were examined in a study of 201 fourth-grade and seventh-grade boys and girls. The subjects read descriptions of hypothetical pairs of boys and hypothetical pairs of girls, and rated each pair on a five-point scale according to the likelihood that they were friends. The characters in each dyad were described as being either similar or not similar to each other, helpful or not helpful to one another, and intimate or not intimate with each other. Both boys and girls made judgements about dyads of each sex, thus making it possible to assess differences between boys' and girls' friendship conceptions in general, and to consider differences in the ratings of the hypothetical boy dyads versus hypothetical girl dyads made by raters of both sexes. An examination of the subjects' ratings revealed (a) differences between the ratings of the similar and nonsimilar pairs, the helpful and nonhelpful pairs, and the intimate and nonintimate pairs, (b) stronger effects for intimacy among older subjects than the younger subjects, (c) stronger effects for intimacy in the ratings of the sentences with girl characters relative to those with boy characters, (d) stronger effects for similarity with the boy dyads than the girl dyads among the older subjects, and (e) interactions among the friendship features. These results are discussed in regard to the relation between social cognition and social behavior, and according to the nature of sex differences in friendship during early adolescence.

Sixth grade boys and girls (N = 315) were asked to complete the Perceived Competence Scale for Children and a sociometric questionnaire in an investigation of the multidimensional nature of self-concept and the association between identity formation and social relations among early adolescents. Perceptions of general self-worth were found to be related to perception of social, physical, and cognitive competence. The strongest relationship was observed between perceived social competence and general self-worth with the strength of this association being significantly greater among boys than girls. Perceived social competence was more strongly related to perceived physical competence among boys than girls whereas social acceptance and perceived social competence were more strongly related among girls than boys. Overall, however, the degree of association between perceived competence and sociometric measures was rather small. The observed sex differences were consistent with previous theoretical proposals and empirical investigations indicating that the association between intimacy and identity may be mediated by gender and these findings indicate that the arenas for studying identity acquisition may be different for boys and girls.

The stability of children's popularity is affected by the popularity of their best friends.

Aim:The aim of this study was to identify the primary reasons why male Iranian adolescents enter into other-gender friendships.