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On the Importance of Being Fun: Over Time Associations Between Perceptions of Fun and Changes in Peer Preference and Popularity

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Date Issued:
2016
Summary:
In this short- term longitudinal study (N=428), the unique predictive association between the positive peer nominated characteristic of being fun and peer status (peer preference and popularity) was assessed in a sample of fourth through sixth grade students. Concurrent hierarchical regression analyses and longitudinal structural equation modeling analyses found that peer nominated fun positively predicted preference and popularity, after accounting for the contribution of predictors potentially confounded with being fun, such as prosocial behavior, academic achievement, relational aggression, and physical aggression. The longitudinal association between fun and preference was qualified by grade in school, such that being fun predicted increases in preference for younger children but not for older children. There were bidirectional associations between peer status and fun; fun predicted increases in peer preference and popularity, but peer preference and popularity also predicted later increases in fun. The findings point to the need to expand existing conceptualizations of the antecedents of peer status beyond known predictors and to examine the developmental shifts in the landscape of children’s peer interactions that make certain characteristics more desirable at different ages.
Title: On the Importance of Being Fun: Over Time Associations Between Perceptions of Fun and Changes in Peer Preference and Popularity.
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Name(s): Dirghangi, Shrija R., author
Laursen, Brett, Thesis advisor
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Department of Psychology
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Created: 2016
Date Issued: 2016
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 99 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: In this short- term longitudinal study (N=428), the unique predictive association between the positive peer nominated characteristic of being fun and peer status (peer preference and popularity) was assessed in a sample of fourth through sixth grade students. Concurrent hierarchical regression analyses and longitudinal structural equation modeling analyses found that peer nominated fun positively predicted preference and popularity, after accounting for the contribution of predictors potentially confounded with being fun, such as prosocial behavior, academic achievement, relational aggression, and physical aggression. The longitudinal association between fun and preference was qualified by grade in school, such that being fun predicted increases in preference for younger children but not for older children. There were bidirectional associations between peer status and fun; fun predicted increases in peer preference and popularity, but peer preference and popularity also predicted later increases in fun. The findings point to the need to expand existing conceptualizations of the antecedents of peer status beyond known predictors and to examine the developmental shifts in the landscape of children’s peer interactions that make certain characteristics more desirable at different ages.
Identifier: FA00004690 (IID)
Degree granted: Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016.
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Includes bibliography.
Subject(s): Peer pressure
Popularity
Social acceptance
Social interaction in children
Social status
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Sublocation: Digital Library
Links: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004690
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004690
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Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.