Abstract

The objectives of this study were to: a) examine group influences on the associations between popularity and individual behavioural characteristics and b) to assess the trajectory of popularity during the first six months of school. It was expected that the group context would moderate the individual behavioural characteristics associated with popularity. Pre-adolescents (N = 342) in grades five and six (Mage = 11.5) from four schools across Montreal, Quebec completed self-report and peer-nomination items to assess nine behavioural characteristics: care, proactive help, reactive help, justice, relational aggression, physical aggression, collectivism, individualism, and popularity. Popularity was assessed across three time points separated by 8-week intervals from the month of September. A three-level hierarchical linear model was used to examine the behavioural characteristics associated with popularity at the level of the individual and group. The sole predictor at Level 1 was an index of time. The eight measures of individual behavioural characteristics were included as Level 2 predictors. Group means of the behavioural characteristics and a measure of SES and gender were added as Level 3 predictors. Both the intercept and slope were associated with individual characteristics (Level 2) and features of the group context (Level 3). Features of the group context moderated effects of individual characteristics on the intercept and slope. The use of a three-level hierarchical linear model highlights popularity amongst pre-adolescents as a social construct.