Sally H. Kaufmann University of Virginia

1. The Impact of Adolescents’ Popularity on Self-Worth Sally H. KaufmannUniversity of Virginia Society for Research in Adolescence March 2004

2. Abstract Research examining peer-related correlates and predictors of adolescent self-worth has produced inconsistent results. Specifically, the little research that has been conducted on the link between adolescent self-worth and popularity among peers is particularly inconsistent. While some research suggests that popularity is important to adolescents’ self-worth, other studies find that this link is non-significant. The present study made a number of hypotheses regarding predictors of self-worth. First, it was hypothesized that being highly liked would lead to an increase in self-worth over time, but only for those teens to whom popularity was relatively unimportant.Second, it was hypothesized that as adolescents got older, simply being unpopular would predict lower self-worth. The present study involved 185 adolescents and their peers. Longitudinal data were collected over a period of three years, beginning when the adolescents were in either the seventh or eighth grade. Results demonstrated that increases in adolescents’ self-worth from age 13 to age 14 were predicted by the interaction between being liked and valuing popularity at age 13, as hypothesized. From age 14 to age 15, decreased self-worth was predicted solely by ratings of being disliked by peers at age 14.

3. Introduction • Self-worth is a predictor of negative teen outcomes (Frentz, Gresham, & Elliott, 1991;Matza, Kupersmidt, & Glenn, 2001; Prakash & Koplan, 2003; Silverthorn, 2002) • Complexities among peer influence research • Close friendship quality appears to be important to self-worth (Bolger, 1997; Cramer, 1994; Keefe & Berndt, 1996) • vs. • Close friendships are perhaps not as important as other peer relationships: Bullied children have lower self-worth, regardless of close friendships (Juvonen, Nishina, & Graham, 2000; Salmon & West, 2000)

4. Introduction (cont’d.) • Belonging to a crowd and self-perceived popularity is related to self-worth (Brown & Lohr, 1987; Walker & Greene, 1986) • vs. • No main effect for popularity on self-worth was found (Quatman & Watson, 2001) • Self-worth is related to adolescents’ feelings about popularity, their friends, and their competence in school (Ayduk, Mendoza-Denton, Mischel, Downey, Peake, & Rodriguez, 2000; Cole, Peeke, Dolezal, Murray, & Canzoniero, 1999; Gavin & Furman, 1989; Qualter & Munn, 2002; Rubin & Mills, 1988)

5. Hypotheses • Change in adolescents’ self-worth in the present research will be predicted by the interaction between status among peers and how much the teens value being popular • Change in later adolescents’ self-worth will be predicted solely by peer ratings of teens’ popularity, rather than by an interaction of peer ratings and teens’ valuing of popularity

6. Method • Sample • 185 adolescents (53% female) were recruited from a public middle school, along with their closest friend and an additional friend whom the teen identified as within circle of 4 closest friends. • Adolescents’ mean age at Time 1 was 13, at Time 2 was 14, and at Time 3 was 15. • The sample consisted of 58% Caucasian, 29% African-American, and 13% adolescents of other minorities. • Mean family income was $30,000-$39,999, with a range of less than $5,000 to more than $60,000.

7. Method (cont’d.) • Measures • Self-worth was measured with a self-report scale from the Harter Self-Perception Profile (Harter, 1988). • “Some teens do like the kind of person they are, • BUT • Some teens often wish they were someone else.” • Adolescents choose which phrase is more true for them, and then rate that as “sort of true for me,” or “really true for me.”

8. Method (cont’d.) • Popularity Valuing was assessed using a self-report scale of the Peer Values Measure (Allen & McElhaney, 1998) • “How important is it to YOU… (Not very important, somewhat important, very important) • … to be popular with a lot of different kids? • … to be admired by other kids?” • Adolescents’ popularity was measured by number of nominations by peers. The adolescents could either not be nominated, be nominated as someone the peers would most like to hang out with, or as someone the peers would least like to hang out with. Nominations on both the Like and the Dislike Scales were summed and standardized within grades.

9. Results • Change in adolescents’ self-worth from age 13 to 14 was predicted by the interaction between being liked and valuing popularity at age 13 (β = -0.15, p ≤ 0.05). Specifically, for teens who did not value popularity as much as did other teens, self-worth was positively correlated with popularity ratings from their peers. The self-worth of those teens who highly valued popularity was inversely related to the number of popularity ratings from peers. • From age 14 to age 15, decrease in self-worth (despite a sample-level increase) was predicted solely by ratings of being disliked by peers at age 14 (β = -0.17, p < 0.05).

10. Means and Standard Deviations Table 1. Means and Standard Deviations Prior to Standardization Variable Mean Standard Deviation N 1.    Gender* 1.52 0.50 178 2.    Minority Status* 1.39 0.49 179 3.    Self-Worth, Age 13 13.26 2.52 179 4.    Self-Worth, Age 14 13.43 2.60 156 5.    Self-Worth, Age 15 13.06 2.74 150 6.    Popularity Valuing (13) 6.09 1.69 179 7.    Popularity Valuing (14) 6.03 1.68 158 8.    Dislike Ratings (13) 5.37 6.41 185 9.    Dislike Rating (14) 4.83 5.18 185 10.  Like Ratings (13) 7.39 6.19 185 11.  Like Ratings (14) 6.34 4.87 185 *These variables were not significant predictors of self-worth, and were thus left out of final analyses.

11. Results (cont’d.)

12. Discussion • Results indicate that earlier in adolescence, teens’ sociometric status and valuing of popularity interact to predict change in self-worth; specifically, those who value popularity highly tend to decrease in self-worth, the more popular they are, while those who do not value popularity so highly increase in self-worth, the more popular they are. • This suggests that excessive concern about peer status may negatively impact self-worth, despite peer status success. • Peers’ opinions appear to become more important than personal values as adolescents get older; specifically, unfavorable status among peers may become the primary predictor of change in self-worth.

13. Allen, J. P., & McElhaney, K. (1998). Peer Values Measure. Unpublished: University of Virginia. Bolger, K. E. (1997). Sequelae of child maltreatment: A longitudinal study of peer relations, behavior, and self-concept. Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(10), 6609B. (UMI No. 95008270) Brown, B. B., & Lohr, M. J. (1987). Peer-group affiliation and adolescent self-esteem: An integration of ego-identity and symbolic-interaction theories. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 47-55. Cramer, D. (1994). Self-esteem and Rogers’ core conditions in close friends: A latent variable path analysis of panel data. Counseling Psychology Quarterly, 7, 327-337. Frentz, C., Gresham, F. M., & Elliott, S. N. (1991). Popular, controversial, neglected, and rejected adolescents: Contrasts of social competence and achievement differences. Journal of School Psychology, 29, 109-120. Harter, S. (1988). Issues in the assessment of the self-concept of children and adolescents. In A. La Greca (Ed.), Childhood assessment: Through the eyes of a child (pp. 292-325). Allyn and Bacon. Juvonen, J., Nishina, A., & Graham, S. (2000). Peer harassment, psychological adjustment, and school functioning in early adolescence. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 349-359. Keefe, K., & Berndt, T. J. (1996). Relations of friendship quality to self-esteem in early adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence, 16, 110-129. Matza, L. S., Kupersmidt, J. B., & Glenn, D. M. (2001). Adolescents’ perceptions and standards of their relationships with their parents as a function of sociometric status. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 11, 245-272. Quatman, T., & Watson, C. M. (2001). Gender differences in adolescent self-esteem: An exploration of domains. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 162, 93-117. Prakash, K., & Coplan, R. J. (2003). Shy skaters? Shyness, coping, and adjustment outcomes in female adolescent figure skaters. Athletic Insight: Online Journal of Sport Psychology, 5, 1-18. Salmon, G., & West, A. (2000). Physical and mental health issues related to bullying in schools. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 13, 375-380. Silverthorn, N. (2002). Examining adolescent self-esteem in the context of development trajectories: Gender and trajectory group differences in social support, coping, stress, and academic achievement from grades 8-11. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: the Sciences and Engineering, 63(1), 570B. Walker, L. S., & Greene, J. W. (1986). The social context of adolescent self-esteem. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 15, 315-322. References

14. Acknowledgements We gratefully acknowledge support from the National Institute of Mental Health (Grants #R01-MH44934, R01-MH58066) and Joseph Allen (Principle Investigator) for the conduct and write-up of this study. Copies of this poster and related work in our lab are available at http://faculty.virginia.edu/allen.