Developmental Changes in the Priority of Perceived Status in Childhood and Adolescence

TLDR

Reputational status plays a developmental role during early adolescence. The study examined how children and adolescents prioritize popularity over other relational domains. The study surveyed 1,013 participants aged 6–22, presenting social dilemmas contrasting popularity with friendship, achievement, rule‑following, prosocial behavior, and romance. Popularity priority followed a curvilinear pattern peaking in early adolescence, with males and majority students showing greater status focus than females and minority students.

Abstract

This study examined the degree to which children and adolescents prioritize popularity in the peer group over other relational domains. Participants were 1013 children and adolescents from grade 1 through senior year of college (ages 6–22 years) who were presented with a series of social dilemmas in which attaining popularity was opposed to five other priorities: friendship, personal achievement, following rules, prosocial behavior, and romantic interests. A curvilinear trend was found for the priority of popularity that peaked in early adolescence. At this age especially, participants prioritized status enhancement over other domains. Across the age range of this study, males and majority students were more preoccupied with reputational status than females and minority students. The discussion focused on the developmental functions of reputational status in early adolescence.