Relational aggression and popularity - Wayne State University

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Wayne State University
Wayne State University Dissertations
1-1-2011
Relational aggression and popularity
Lisa Jo Woodcock-Burroughs
Wayne State University,
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Woodcock-Burroughs, Lisa Jo, "Relational aggression and popularity" (2011).Wayne State University Dissertations.Paper 421.
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RELATIONAL AGGRESSION AND POPULARITY

by

LISA WOODCOCK-BURROUGHS

DISSERTATION

Submitted to the Graduate School

of Wayne State University,

Detroit, Michigan

in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

2012

MAJOR: EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

Approved by:

___________________________________________________
Advisor Date

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________
©COPYRIGHT

LISA WOODCOCK-BURROUGHS

2012

All Rights Reserved
DEDICATION

To my husband Gary,

your love, strength, belief, and patience

have given me the fortitude to make my dream a reality.

Thank you for joining me on this journey.

To my mother, father, and brother,

thank you for always pushing me to
“reach for that apple”
and for showing me that, with hard work, anything is possible.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I sincerely wish to express my deepest gratitude for my professors, family
and friends, who have given me their encouragement, support and guidance
throughout my many years of study and research, including:
Dr. Jina Yoon, my academic advisor, who has provided her valuable guidance,
expertise and support every step of the way. My committee members, Dr. Barry
Markman, Dr. Cheryl Somers, Dr. Donald Coscina and Dr. John Woodard, for never
missing an opportunity to teach me something new and for their willingness to do
so.
Dr. Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks, professor, beloved friend and founding member of
Suarez, for sharing his expertise in statistics, being a willing teacher, and for his
ability to make any obstacle seem manageable.
Dr. Nicki Crick for her interest in my research and willingness to share her
measures.
Central Montcalm Public Schools, especially superintendent Jake Helms, and
principals John Kearney, Tomas Torok, and Susan Koster, who made the research
possible.
The parents of the research participants, as well as the participants
themselves, for their willingness to participate in research on such a sensitive topic.
Dr. Paul Chrustowski, teacher, mentor, and friend, for his encouragement and
valued clinical insights.
Julie Winkelstern, supervisor, mentor, and friend, for her encouragement and
flexibility which enabled me to reach for my dream.
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Dr. Patrick McConville, friend, for being willing to help in whatever capacity
was necessary and for enduring a multitude of paper cuts as a result. My husband,
Gary Burroughs, for his loving support and assistance with preparing study
materials. My mother, Vicki Woodcock for volunteering to assist with my data
collection. My father, Michael Woodcock, for providing assistance where it was
needed, no matter how large or small the task.
Kimberly LaPlante, Heather Carroll and all of my friends and colleagues for their
support and encouragement throughout this process.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ii
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Chapter 1—Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Definition of Popularity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Gender Differences in Relational Aggression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Social Dominance Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Social Cognitive Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Purpose of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Research Questions and Hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chapter 2—Review of Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Definition of Relational Aggression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Popularity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Relationship between Perceived and Sociometric Popularity . . . . . . . . . 17
Characteristics Associated with Popularity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Attributes Associated with Sociometric Popularity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Features Associated with Perceived Popularity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Conundrum of Popularity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Concurrent and Future Outcomes of Relational Aggression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Victimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Perpetrators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Gender Differences in Levels of Aggression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
v
Gender Differences in Relational Aggression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Early Childhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Middle Childhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Adolescence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Adulthood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Relationship between Relational Aggression and Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
Relationship between Popularity and Aggression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Relationship between Sociometric Popularity and Aggression . . . . . . . . 51
Relationship between Perceived Popularity and Aggression . . . . . . . . . . 52
Potential for Harm: Completion of a Peer Nomination Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Chapter 3—Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Children’s Social Behavior Scale—Peer Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Assessment of Perceived Popularity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
Assessment of Sociometric Popularity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Demographic Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Technology Use and School Behavior Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Reaction Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Chapter 4—Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Factor Analysis of CSBS-P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82
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Measures of Popularity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Research Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86
Research Question 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Research Question 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Research Question 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Research Question 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Research Question 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Reaction Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Chapter 5—Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Implication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Future Directions: Relational Aggression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Appendix A Demographic Information Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Appendix B Peer Nomination Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Appendix C Technology Use and School Behavior Questionnaire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133
Appendix D Sociometric Risk Questionnaire: Self-Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Appendix E Central Montcalm Parental Permission/Research Informed Consent . . . . 136
Appendix F Documentation of Adolescent Assent Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Appendix G Mental Health Resources in Montcalm County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143
Appendix H Primary Investigator Letter of Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Appendix I Child Assent Form (Ages 7-12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Appendix J Script to Obtain Child/Adolescent Assent & Survey Directions . . . . . . . . 146
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Appendix K Sociometric-Risk Questionnaire: Self-Report Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Appendix L School Approval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Appendix M Human Investigation Committee Approval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185
Autobiographical Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

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