Definition

Sociometric status refers to how much a child is liked and noticed by peers. It reflects a broader categorization of peer acceptance than simple friendships. Sociometric categories include popular, rejected, neglected, controversial, and average children. Sociometric status is important because peer relations play a significant role in the social and emotional development of children.

Evaluation

Sociometric status is evaluated by asking children to nominate the peers whom they most like and dislike, rate each peer on a scale ranging from like very much to dislike very much, or indicate their preferred playmates from among different pairs of children. Teachers, parents, and researchers also can provide their observations. Researchers use these positive and negative nominations to categorize each child's sociometric status.

Sociometric Categories