Sociometric Status

Popular

Popular children receive many positive and few negative nominations. They are well liked by others. Popular children are cooperative, sociable, friendly, and sensitive to others. Although they are assertive and capable of using aggression, they exhibit few disruptive and negative behaviors. Instead, they appear to use their [Page 932]social skills to get what they want without resorting to aggression. Popular children also tend to show high levels of academic and intellectual abilities. Children, teachers, and parents generally agree which children are popular. Overall, popular children are skilled in initiating and maintaining positive social interactions and relationships.

Rejected

Rejected children receive many negative and few positive nominations. They are actively disliked. Rejected children exhibit fewer positive social skills and traits than do children in the other groups, and they show weaker academic and intellectual abilities. Recent research indicates two types of children who are rejected: Children who display disruptive and aggressive behavior, and children who are socially anxious and withdrawn.

Children in the rejected-aggressive group display high levels of hostile and threatening behavior, physical aggression such as pushing and fighting, and disruptive behavior such as breaking rules. They also may display a hostile attribution bias or a tendency to assume that other children have hostile intentions in ambiguous situations. For example, if one child drops an art project and a second child steps on it before it can be retrieved, the scenario is ambiguous; it is unclear whether the second child stepped on it on purpose or by accident. Although nonrejected children recognize the ambiguity, rejected-aggressive children may assume that the negative act was purposeful, subsequently responding with aggressive retaliation. This aggressive retaliation is perceived as unwarranted by those who recognized the situational ambiguity, which feeds into the cycle of peer rejection.

Other children may be rejected because they display socially anxious behavior. These children are not overly aggressive. Rather, they are timid and wary in social situations, leading to uncomfortable, awkward interactions. Peers may find it difficult to predict how these children will act and may be less willing to approach them. Socially anxious children may then withdraw from future social situations. Rejected-withdrawn children appear to lack the social skills that make smooth interactions with peers possible.

Neglected

Neglected children receive few positive and few negative nominations. They engage in few disruptive and aggressive behaviors, and they show less sociability than their peers. However, research indicates that neglected children are not at great risk for negative outcomes. Indeed, in more structured activities, these children show more sociability. Otherwise, they may prefer solitary activities, ultimately contributing to their neglected status. Neglected children are not disliked. They simply are not noticed.

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