Social Networks and Aggressive Behavior: Peer Support or Peer Rejection?

Studied social networks and aggressive behavior in school in 2 cohorts of boys and girls in the 4th and 7th grades ( N = 695). Measures of social networks yielded convergent findings. Highly aggressive subjects (both boys and girls) did not differ from matched control subjects in terms of social clu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Developmental psychology 1988-11, Vol.24 (6), p.815-823
Main Authors: Cairns, Robert B, Cairns, Beverley D, Neckerman, Holly J, Gest, Scott D, Gariépy, Jean-Louis
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aggressive Behavior
Biological and medical sciences
Child development
Developmental psychology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Peer Relations
Peer Support
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Social Acceptance
Social Support
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Summary:Studied social networks and aggressive behavior in school in 2 cohorts of boys and girls in the 4th and 7th grades ( N = 695). Measures of social networks yielded convergent findings. Highly aggressive subjects (both boys and girls) did not differ from matched control subjects in terms of social cluster membership or in being isolated or rejected within the social network. Peer cluster analysis and reciprocal "best friend" selections indicated that aggressive subjects tended to affiliate with aggressive peers. Even though highly aggressive children and adolescents were less popular than control subjects in the social network at large, they were equally often identified as being nuclear members of social clusters. Aggressive subjects did not differ from matched control subjects in the number of times they were named by peers as "best friend," nor did the two groups differ in the probability of having friendship choices reciprocated by peers.
ISSN:0012-1649
1939-0599
DOI:10.1037/0012-1649.24.6.815