Chapter two
Chapter two
Conceptualizing and Measuring Popularity
This chapter reviews the measurement of popularity in research with children and adolescents. As indicated in the previous chapter, the study of popularity has roots in both quantitative and qualitative approaches. This chapter focuses on quantitative methods, but qualitative approaches are also briefly reviewed. Specifically, we discuss sociometric measures (peer nominations or ratings) of popularity but also address alternative measures, such as self-ratings, teacher ratings, and observational methods. In addition, some researchers have used mixed-methods approaches-for example, LaFontana and Cillessen collected answers to open-ended essay questions that were later content coded for quantitative analyses-and we discuss these studies here as well.
As popularity is becoming a more popular topic in the peer relations literature, there is a clear need for consistent terminology. A recurrent observation in this book is that researchers have used inconsistent terms for popularity and related constructs. An important goal of this chapter is to propose a clear and consistent use of terms. Toward this end, we review the distinction between two forms of high status in the peer group-likeability and popularity-and the labels used for them. We then propose a standardized terminology for use by researchers.
WHAT IS POPULARITY?
WHAT IS POPULARITY?
Bukowski presented a broad conceptual analysis of the origin of the word popularity. This analysis shows that the roots of the term popularity are diverse and its meanings complex. The goal of the current chapter is narrower and limited to the measurement practices across the empirical literature. We focus on the practice of measuring popularity as a psychological construct in the child and adolescent peer relationships literature.
As indicated by Bukowski, popularity in this narrow sense in the developmental literature has typically referred to the rank ordering of children or adolescents in their peer groups (classroom or grade) according to a criterion of hierarchy or status (a positive criterion or desirable trait). Those at the top of the rank ordering have been labeled "popular." This practice has been followed for the past seventy-five years in a large number of studies. Many of these studies dealt directly with popularity; in others, the identification of popular students was a by-product of a focus on other dimensions of peer status, usually peer rejection. This body of research, and especially the data collected over the past ten years, reveals multiple ways of measuring popularity that are indicators of different underlying constructs.
The heterogeneity of the empirical construct of popularity can be illustrated by a comparison to the construct of attractiveness. Research in social psychology has shown consistently that people who are considered physically attractive or beautiful are evaluated positively, even when their behavior is not positive. A favorite expression summarizing this body of research is "What is beautiful is good." Does this also apply to popularity? Is what is popular also always good? Both anecdotal expressions and research evidence indicate that the positivity bias that exists for attractiveness does not necessarily exist for popularity. Unlike for beauty, what is popular is not always good.
In the anecdotal domain, Abraham Lincoln is quoted to have said "Avoid popularity if you will have peace," already pointing to the fact that popularity is a mixed blessing. Perhaps Lincoln was referring to the heavy responsibilities that came with his position of high (elected) status or to the envies and enmities that came along with it. Oscar Wilde said, "Whatever is popular is wrong." He referred to art, taking the elitist stand that what is liked by everyone cannot necessarily be good. More recently, Yogi Berra has said, "Whoever is popular is bound to be disliked"- wisdom with a close connection to the child and especially adolescent peer group, as we will discuss later. This mixed nature of popularity as a psychological construct is also illustrated by several movies that have shown the dark side of adolescent popularity, particularly among girls.
Taking these anecdotal illustrations into the empirical domain, studies with children and adolescents have shown that popularity is associated with some negative behaviors and outcomes. Whereas being liked by peers is negatively associated with being aggressive, popularity has a consistent positive association with measures of aggression, in particular social or relational aggression, that is, aggression that is manipulative or excluding. Furthermore, popularity is positively associated with health risk behaviors such as smoking, drinking, and early sexual activity in adolescence. Thus, the anecdotal perception of popularity as a mixed bag is confirmed by empirical data in the child and adolescent literature. This chapter considers the measures of this dual-natured construct.