THE NATURE OF CHILDRENS STEREOTYPES OF POPULARITY

The present study investigated what types of attributions and expectat ions children have about peers who they believe are popular or unpopul ar with other children. Fourth and fifth grade children (N = 135) were presented with pictures of several unacquainted peers who were descri bed as popular or unpopular (or neither). Children were then told abou t several hypothetical encounters between themselves and each of the p eers and were asked to explain or rate what each peer's response would be to that situation. As hypothesized, children had negative stereoty pes about children who they believed were unpopular, while stereotypes about children believed to be popular were a mixture of positive and negative elements. Results confirmed past research in suggesting that a distinction must be made between sociometric and perceived popularit y. Gender differences were also discussed, because the stereotypes hel d by boys and girls differed in several respects.