Abstract
As goals pertaining to one’s power position in the peer group are predictors of bullying perpetration, improving our understanding of youth’s popularity motivations is crucial. This preregistered study examined motivations geared toward desirable popularity outcomes (promotion-focused) and avoiding undesirable popularity outcomes (prevention-focused). Within both, novel popularity motivation subconstructs were introduced that captured youth’s priority, change, and absolute level motivations, as well as traditionally measured general popularity motivations. In addition to these popularity engagement motivations, popularity disengagement in the form of popularity disinterest was also measured. How these subconstructs were related to youth’s own popularity, bullying, and prosocial behaviors among 202 students from Dutch fourth- to sixth-grade classrooms was examined using self- and peer reports in a school-based survey. Results showed that general and absolute level promotion-focused popularity motivations; general, priority, change, and absolute level prevention-focused popularity motivations; and popularity disinterest are all distinct concepts that can be measured reliably. Moreover, higher levels of popularity were associated with stronger popularity promotion motivations; stronger priority, change, and absolute level prevention motivations; and weaker popularity disinterest. Stronger bullying involvement was associated with stronger general and absolute level prevention motivations, with stronger assisting of bullies additionally being associated with stronger general and absolute level promotion motivations and weaker popularity disinterest. Higher levels of prosocial behavior were associated with stronger absolute level prevention motivation. These results confirm the existence of multiple new popularity motivation subconstructs and illustrate especially the relevance of lowest tolerable absolute level of popularity for both bullying and prosocial behavior.
Suggested Reviewers
Yan Li: [email protected] Tiina Ojanen: [email protected] Allison Ryan: [email protected] Bill Bukowski: editorial board Matteo Giletta: editorial board Huiyoung Shin: editorial board
Recommended Citation
Lansu, Tessa A. M. and Xia, Mengtian
(2025)
"Identifying Novel Popularity Motivations and Their Associations With Popularity, Bullying, and Prosocial Behavior,"
Merrill-Palmer Quarterly: A Peer Relations Journal: Vol. 71:
Iss.
3, Article 2.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/mpq/vol71/iss3/2