Although it is widely assumed that positive peer status contributes to children's psychological adjustment, little is known about the nature of the status-adjustment relationship. The present study therefore investigated the relationship between elementary-school children's peer status and their concurrent sense of psychological well-being, examining: (a) feelings of well-being in socially rejected versus neglected children, and (b) social aspirations as a variable that may mediate the link between peer status and children's feelings of well-being. Two hundred sixty-nine fourth- and fifth-grade children participated. Peer status was assessed using positive and negative nomination sociometric measures. Four self-report measures were used to index the children's feelings of well-being. The Children's Depression Inventory (Kovacs, 1982) assessed feelings of depression, while the Children's Concerns Inventory (Buhrmester, 1982) assessed feelings of anxiety. Self-esteem and self-perceived social competence were measured using the Perceived Competence Scale for Children (Harter, 1979). A new self-report questionnaire, the Social Aspiration Scale, was developed to assess the level of the children's social aspirations. Results revealed significant, although unexpected, sex differences in the relationship between peer status and children's feelings of well-being. While low-status boys reported greater psychological distress than high-status boys, it was girls of high peer status as compared to those of low peer status who reported greater psychological distress. Within sex, rejected and neglected children tended to respond similarly across the four psychological adjustment measures. These results cast doubt on the assumption that popular children are all at an advantage in terms of their psychological well-being. It appears that this assumption may hold true for / boys, but be inappropriate for describing the experience of elementary-school girls. Data were obtained to support the reliability and validity of the Social Aspiration Scale. Children's social aspiration scores did not relate significantly to any of the peer status or psychological adjustment variables, however. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-02, Section: B, page: 0812. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75776 |
| Contributors | BURTON, CHRISTINE BERYL., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 205 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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