Unpopularity and disliking among peers: Partially distinct dimensions of adolescents' social experiences

The paper examines whether unpopularity and disliking among peers are partially distinct dimensions of adolescents' negative social experience. We recruited 418 students (187 boys, 231 girls, M = 12.12 years, SD = 4.33) from an urban junior high school. These early adolescents completed a peer nomination inventory assessing aspects of their social relationships with peers (i.e., popularity, liking, unpopularity and disliking), reciprocated friendships and behavioral reputations with peers (i.e., relationally and overtly aggressive, relationally and overtly victimized, withdrawn and prosocial). The participants also completed self-report inventories assessing their feelings of loneliness and peer victimization. In addition, academic performance data was obtained directly from school records. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that unpopularity and disliking among peers were associated with different behaviors. Unpopularity was also associated with reports of loneliness, relational victimization and low numbers of reciprocated friends, whereas disliking was associated with low academic performance. These results highlight the importance of multidimensional conceptualizations of negative social experiences in early adolescence and the differential risks associated with unpopularity and disliking among peers.

Research highlights
► We examine whether unpopularity and disliking among peers are partially distinct dimensions of adolescents' negative social experience.
► Unpopularity and disliking were associated with different behaviors and indices of socio-emotional and academic adjustment.
► The differential risk of unpopularity and disliking is highlighted.