The association between valuing popularity and relational aggression: The moderating effects of actual popularity and physiological reactivity to exclusion

Abstract

The association between having a reputation for valuing popularity and relational aggression was assessed in a sample of 126 female children and adolescents (mean age = 12.43 years) at a 54-day residential summer camp for girls. Having a reputation for valuing popularity was positively related to relational aggression. This association was moderated by both popularity and physiological reactivity to social exclusion (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity [RSAR] and heart rate reactivity [HRR]). Popular girls with a reputation for valuing popularity were at greater risk for engaging in relational aggression when they also exhibited blunted reactivity to social exclusion. Conversely, girls who had a reputation for valuing popularity but were not popular (i.e., the “wannabes”) were at risk for engaging in relational aggression when they exhibited heightened reactivity to exclusion.

Introduction

There is a growing body of literature investigating the association between relational aggression and social and psychological adjustment throughout childhood and adolescence. This work has provided important insight into the complex factors underlying social behavior during these developmental periods. Relational aggression involves the use of behaviors that intentionally harm others’ interpersonal relationships such as spreading negative gossip and purposeful exclusion (Crick & Grotpeter, 1996). Extant research investigating the psychological correlates of relational aggression indicates that these behaviors are associated with a range of maladjustment indexes such as loneliness, isolation, peer rejection (Crick & Grotpeter, 1995), and internalizing symptoms (Murray-Close, Ostrov, & Crick, 2007). However, relational aggression appears to confer some benefits, including popularity in the peer group (LaFontana and Cillessen, 2002, Rose et al., 2004), suggesting that these behaviors may be used to achieve social status (Hawley, Little, & Card, 2008). Moreover, although the focus on popularity during the transition to adolescence is commonplace (LaFontana & Cillessen, 2010), ethnographic reports of social interactions during late elementary school indicate that there is variability in the extent to which individuals appear to value popularity (Adler & Adler, 1998). Adler and Adler (1998) posited that this variability may differentially inform behavior in peer relationships, and recent work indicates that the extent to which adolescents prioritize popularity is positively associated with relational aggression (Cillessen, de Bruyn, & LaFontana, 2009).

As such, an important topic for empirical study is the possible association between the reputations that individuals have for valuing popularity and relationally aggressive behavior. To address this question, the central purpose of the current study was to examine the association between having a reputation for valuing popularity and relational aggression among a sample of (pre)adolescent girls. In addition, we examined two potential moderators of this association: popularity and physiological reactivity to social exclusion. Adler and Adler (1998) suggested that although all adolescents who appear to value popularity may be at increased risk for engaging in aggression, popularity may influence the nature of these aggressive behaviors. For example, those who are viewed as popular by their peers appear to engage in strategic aggression to maintain their status within the group, whereas unpopular individuals who have a reputation for striving for popularity seem to use aggression in desperate attempts to impress popular peers (Adler & Adler, 1998). Moreover, social exclusion may be a particularly relevant stressor for those with reputations for valuing popularity, and recent work indicates that variation in physiological reactivity to social exclusion is associated with relational aggression (see Sijtsema, Shoulberg, & Murray-Close, 2011, for previous analyses of the current dataset). Thus, the current study explored whether physiological reactivity to social exclusion further moderated the association between having a reputation for valuing popularity and relational aggression.

Social status has been widely examined as a correlate of behavior in peer relationships during childhood and adolescence. Over the past decade, developmental researchers have begun to differentiate between two distinct dimensions of social status (Cillessen & Rose, 2005). Sociometric popularity has traditionally been used as a measure of preference or likeability. Conversely, perceived popularity reflects a consensus among the peer group regarding who is deemed cool and socially central (Cillessen and Rose, 2005, Lease et al., 2002). Following the suggestions of Cillessen and Marks (2011), the current study uses the term preference to describe sociometric popularity and uses the term popularity to describe perceived popularity so as to provide semantic differentiation between these distinct measures of social status. Although many studies report that popularity and preference are strongly related (e.g., correlation of .74 in Sandstrom & Cillessen, 2006), research suggests that they are distinct constructs conferring unique meaning on adolescent adjustment. For example, a growing body of research reveals that popularity is positively associated with relational aggression (e.g., Cillessen & Mayeux, 2004). However, high social status is not uniformly associated with relational aggression (Heilbron & Prinstein, 2008); in fact, preference is negatively associated with relational aggression for adolescent girls (LaFontana & Cillessen, 2002).

Although previous research has provided significant insight regarding the associations between peer status and aggression, it is not clear how reputations for popularity motivations are associated with relational aggression. During late elementary and middle school years, conversations about who is cool or who is not popular are pervasive (Adler & Adler, 1998). Being friends with popular individuals is associated with increased popularity during adolescence (Dijkstra, Cillessen, Lindenberg, & Veenstra, 2010), and early adolescents tend to place more value on being a part of the popular crowd as compared with pre- or late adolescents (Gavin & Furman, 1989). In addition, LaFontana and Cillessen (2010) reported that when participants were faced with scenarios in which they could choose to prioritize popularity over another domain (e.g., friendship, achievement, prosocial behavior), increases in the frequency that popularity was prioritized began during early adolescence.

However, not all adolescents appear to value popularity. In their 8-year ethnographic study of peer relationships during preadolescence, Adler and Adler (1998) suggested that individuals who appear to desire popularity seem to both befriend and demean others in an attempt to gain favor with other popular peers while trying to establish and maintain power within their social networks. Conversely, socially connected individuals who do not appear to desire inclusion in the popular crowd seem to be well adjusted and accepting of others and also enjoy relatively positive peer relationships (Adler & Adler, 1998). These findings suggest that adolescents who are focused on achieving popularity in the peer group may use aggression to achieve their social status goals. Although limited quantitative research has explored this possibility, preliminary research indicates that self-reports of the extent to which individuals prioritize popularity and adolescents’ endorsement of popularity goals are positively linked to relational aggression (Cillessen et al., 2009, Ryan and Shim, 2008).

However, to our knowledge, no research has examined the associations between peer-reported reputations for valuing popularity and relational aggression. Although self-reports provide one valuable perspective on the motivations underlying relational aggression, they may be particularly biased as a result of efforts to preserve a positive self-image (see Xie, Cairns, & Cairns, 2005). These self-preservation efforts may be particularly relevant in regard to popularity goals given Adler and Adler’s (1998) observations that individuals whose popularity strivings were obvious appeared to be more vulnerable to ridicule from their peers. Moreover, Adler and Adler indicated that preadolescents’ perceptions of their peers’ popularity strivings influence their social interactions. Specifically, they observed that individuals denigrated those who appeared to work too hard to gain popularity within their peer group, especially if those individuals were unpopular. These findings suggest that reputations for valuing popularity may influence adolescents’ social behavior with peers. They also highlight the possibility that relational aggression may be used to gain control and status in the peer group only among adolescents whose goals are transparent to others. In fact, recent research has highlighted the use of a number of strategies for attaining social status, including prosocial and coercive (e.g., aggressive) behaviors (Hawley et al., 2008). These findings indicate that some adolescents effectively employ positive social behaviors to achieve social status goals. However, adolescents whose social strivings are obvious, overt, and transparent may be particularly likely to employ any method necessary to gain status in the peer group, including negative behaviors such as relational aggression.

Moreover, previous work did not account for the overlap between popularity and preference constructs. Importantly, most investigations examining the correlates of popularity statistically control for preference (e.g., Sandstrom & Cillessen, 2006) to examine the unique association between popularity and relational aggression. However, extant research examining the association between popularity goals and relational aggression has not controlled for preference goals (Cillessen et al., 2009) or has focused on social status goals that include both popularity (e.g., “It is important to me that other kids think I am popular”) and preference (e.g., “My goal is to show other kids how much everyone likes me”) strivings (Ryan & Shim, 2008). Thus, in the current study, having a reputation for valuing preference is controlled in all analyses examining the association between having a reputation for valuing popularity and relational aggression.

Although having a reputation for valuing popularity may be an important factor underlying the use of relational aggression, this association may depend on actual social status in the peer group. In fact, Adler and Adler (1998) highlighted a group of individuals who appeared to highly value being popular but were viewed by their peers as unpopular. These “wannabes” seemed to be hyperfocused on achieving status in their social worlds. In their attempts to achieve popularity, wannabes emulated popular peers to extreme levels and were often ridiculed by their peers because of their transparent motivations (Adler & Adler, 1998). Wannabes did not experience close and meaningful friendships, were frequent targets of popular students’ aggressive behaviors, and appeared to use aggression as a means to impress the popular crowd (Adler & Adler, 1998). Consistent with this description, Dijkstra et al. (2010) recently reported that female wannabes (i.e., individuals whose friendship nominations of popular students were not reciprocated) were less popular and less liked when compared with individuals who enjoyed mutual friendships with popular individuals.

Although Adler and Adler (1998) suggested that both popular individuals and wannabes engage in aggressive behaviors as a means to gain status within the peer group, they highlighted differences in the psychological contexts that appear to promote the use of relational aggression for popular individuals and wannabes. Specifically, popular individuals appear to strategically aggress against others to maintain their status, whereas wannabes seem to use aggression in desperate attempts to improve their status with popular peers. Given the distinct psychological contexts that may underlie the use of aggression by popular individuals and wannabes, the current study further examined the extent to which popularity moderated the association between reputations for valuing popularity and relational aggression.

During recent years, the biosocial framework has yielded significant insight into factors underlying risk for engaging in antisocial behavior among children and adolescents. A growing body of literature indicates that physiological reactivity to stress is an important precursor of aggressive behaviors (see Raine, 2002, Rappaport and Thomas, 2004). The existing research suggests that two distinct patterns of physiological reactivity may place individuals at risk for being aggressive. On the one hand, fearlessness theory posits that individuals who display blunted “fight-or-flight” responses in stressful situations do not experience fear (Raine, 2002). These fearless individuals may be more likely to engage in risky behaviors because they are not concerned about the consequences that deter more fearful individuals from engaging in such conduct (Raine, 2002). In contrast, individuals who exhibit exaggerated fight-or-flight responses to stress may also be at risk for engaging in aggression (Murray-Close and Crick, 2007, Williams et al., 2003). Specifically, aggressive behaviors appear to be driven by extreme arousal to situational stressors (e.g., Murray-Close & Crick, 2007).

Preliminary work examining the association between physiological reactivity and relational aggression (Murray-Close and Crick, 2007, Sijtsema et al., 2011) indicates that girls’ physiological reactivity to social stressors is associated with the use of relational aggression. These studies focused on physiological reactivity to relational stressors (e.g., social exclusion) given evidence suggesting that relational provocations such as exclusion are especially likely to elicit physiological reactivity among females (Murray-Close & Crick, 2007). In addition, relational aggression has been shown to be related to hostile attributions regarding relational but not instrumental peer provocations (Crick, 1995, Crick et al., 2002), suggesting that relationally aggressive children may be especially reactive to relational stressors.

Findings from preliminary studies examining the association between physiological reactivity to stress and relational aggression have been mixed. Sijtsema et al. (2011) reported that blunted fight-or-flight responses to stress predicted heightened involvement in relational aggression. These findings are consistent with the fearlessness theory perspective (Raine, 2002), in which individuals who exhibit relatively blunted reactivity to experiences of social exclusion may be less likely to fear possible negative outcomes associated with relational aggression such as relational conflicts, relational victimization by friends, and dislike by peers (e.g., Cillessen et al., 2005, Crick, 1996, Grotpeter and Crick, 1996). In contrast, Murray-Close and Crick (2007) found that exaggerated fight-or-flight responses to relational stress predicted girls’ relational aggression. These findings are consistent with the idea that adolescents who exhibit heightened reactivity to indicators of low status, such as exclusion by peers, may be especially likely to respond with relationally aggressive conduct.

These mixed findings highlight the possibility that distinct physiological profiles may place adolescents who have a reputation for valuing popularity at risk for engaging in relational aggression depending on their level of popularity. In line with both fearlessness theory (Raine, 2002) and recent work examining physiological factors underlying relational regression (Sijtsema et al., 2011), we predicted that popular individuals with reputations for valuing popularity would be at increased risk for engaging in relational aggression when they also exhibited a pattern of blunted reactivity to social exclusion. In effect, because popular individuals are less likely to experience the negative outcomes associated with the use of relational aggression (Rose & Swenson, 2009), it is possible that they do not fear negative repercussions for their aggressive behaviors. In addition, highly popular individuals are effective in their use of relational aggression to gain social status, and it is likely that their use of aggression is relatively strategic (Hawley, 1999). This description fits best with hypoarousal theories of aggression, in which underarousal is associated with goal-directed and planful aggression (Van Goozen, 2005).

In contrast, we expected that unpopular individuals with reputations for valuing popularity (i.e., the wannabes) would be at heightened risk for engaging in relational aggression when they also exhibited heightened reactivity to exclusion. Wannabes appear to experience a great deal of anxiety as they navigate their social worlds (Adler & Adler, 1998); as a result, these individuals may be especially reactive to experiences such as exclusion. We hypothesized that wannabes would frequently engage in relational aggression when their apparent desires for popularity were thwarted. This process is most consistent with views of exaggerated fight-or-flight response stress, in which emotional and impulsive reactions to (actual or perceived) threat result in aggressive responding (Scarpa & Raine, 1997).

Stressful situations typically affect both parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity (i.e., “rest-and-digest” functions) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity (i.e., fight-or-flight functions) (see El-Sheikh et al., 2009). Specifically, during a stressful experience, individuals typically exhibit SNS activation and PNS withdrawal, reflecting a fight-or-flight response. However, there are individual differences in these physiological stress responses, with some individuals exhibiting exaggerated fight-or-flight responses (i.e., exaggerated SNS activation and/or exaggerated PNS withdrawal) and others exhibiting blunted fight-or-flight responses (i.e., blunted SNS activation and/or blunted PNS withdrawal) (Sijtsema et al., 2011). To capture these distinct physiological profiles in response to stress, the current study used indexes of both branches of the autonomic nervous system to measure reactivity while participants were being excluded from the online ball-throwing game “Cyberball” (Williams, Cheung, & Choi, 2000). Specifically, we measured respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity (RSAR) as an index of PNS functioning and measured skin conductance reactivity (SCR) as an indicator of SNS functioning. In addition, heart rate reactivity (HRR) was used as a measure of both PNS and SNS functioning (see Sijtsema et al., 2011). Blunted reactivity would suggest blunted SNS activation and/or blunted PNS withdrawal following stress. In contrast, heightened reactivity would suggest exaggerated SNS activation and/or exaggerated PNS withdrawal (El-Sheikh et al., 2009). As a result, we expected that having a reputation for valuing popularity would be most strongly associated with relational aggression in the context of blunted SCR and HRR (i.e., lower levels of SCR and HRR) and/or blunted respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) withdrawal (i.e., higher levels of RSAR, reflecting a smaller decrease in RSA from baseline to stressor) among individuals who were popular. In contrast, we expected that having a reputation for valuing popularity would be most strongly associated with relational aggression in the context of heightened SCR and HRR and/or exaggerated RSA withdrawal (i.e., lower levels of RSAR, reflecting a greater decrease in RSA from baseline to stressor) among individuals who were relatively unpopular.

In sum, we expected that having a reputation for valuing popularity would be positively associated with relational aggression. We further hypothesized that distinct patterns of physiological reactivity would confer risk for engaging in relational aggression for individuals who had a reputation for valuing popularity depending on their actual popularity. Specifically, we expected that having a reputation for valuing popularity would be most strongly associated with relational aggression among adolescents who were popular and exhibited blunted reactivity to social exclusion. Conversely, we anticipated that having a reputation for valuing popularity would be most strongly associated with relational aggression among adolescents who were rated as not popular by their peer group (i.e., the wannabes) and exhibited heightened reactivity to exclusion. Finally, given evidence that the association between popularity and relational aggression strengthens across adolescence (Cillessen & Mayeux, 2004), exploratory analyses examined age as a potential factor in the association between having a reputation for valuing popularity and relational aggression. These hypotheses were examined with a sample from an all-female, 54-day residential summer camp.