A Developmental Perspective on Peer Rejection: Mechanisms of Stability and Change

• Published in: Child development Vol. 70; no. 4; pp. 955 - 966
• Main Authors: Sandstrom, Marlene Jacobs, Coie, John D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, USA and Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishers Inc 01-07-1999; Blackwell Publishers; Blackwell; University of Chicago Press for the Society for Research in Child Development, etc; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Aggression; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child Behavior Disorders - diagnosis; Child Behavior Disorders - psychology; Child development; Child Development - physiology; Child psychology; Child Rearing; Child, Preschool; Children; Developmental psychology; Elementary School Students; Extracurricular Activities; Factors; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human aggression; Humans; Internal-External Control; Locus of Control; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Mothers; Parent-Child Relations; Parenting; Parents; Peer Acceptance; Peer Group; Peer groups; Peer relations; Peer Relationship; Peers; Predictive Value of Tests; Preschool children; Prospective Studies; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Rejection (Psychology); Relationships and Interactions; Reliability; Retrospective Studies; Sex Differences; Social classes; Social Desirability; Social Perception; Social rejection; Social Status; Socialization; Sociometric Techniques; Time course; Human; Locus of control; School age; Peer relation; Social interaction; Social rejection; Personality; Child; Sociometry; Aggressiveness; Parent child relation
• ISSN: 0009-3920; 1467-8624
• DOI: 10.1111/1467-8624.00069

This study examines factors associated with the relative stability of peer rejection among elementary school-aged children. Forty-four initially rejected children (some of whom improved their social status while others remained rejected over a 2-year period) were recruited from a larger sociometric sample. Prospective analyses were conducted to determine whether peer nominated aggression and children's perceptions of their own status in fourth grade were predictive of status improvement by the end of fifth grade. In addition to prospective analyses, initially rejected children and their mothers were invited to participate in a retrospective interview about their social experiences over the past 2 school years. Results of prospective and retrospective analyses suggested that perceived social status, participation in extracurricular activities, locus of control, and parental monitoring were all positively related to status improvement among initially rejected children. Surprisingly, aggressive behavior also was positively related to status improvement among initially rejected boys.