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Middle School Students' Perceptions of Peer Groups

Relative Judgments about Group Characteristics

Ursinus College

Kirsten D. Petro

Ursinus College

From the social cognitive perspective, two studies were designed to investigate adolescent peer groups. In Study 1, middle school students named their peer groups and provided characteristics they perceived to be associated with each group. Content analysis indicated that characteristics were related to adolescent social concerns. In Study 2, another group of adolescents rated how true they perceived the characteristics were of a peer group. Results indicated the early adolescents used the full rating scale, which indicated they make relative, not either/or, judgments. The ratings study provided information about the constellation of characteristics that identify peer groups as overlapping. Nerds were perceived to be similar to goody-goodies but not the same. The study also provided information about individual groups. Populars were perceived to be highly social and moderately likely to participate in antisocial behaviors. These studies indicate that further investigations of peer groups as social categories can provide important information.

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