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According to social referencing theory, cues peers take from positive and negative teacher behavior toward a student affect the student’s peer liking and disliking status. The present study was the first to test the hypothesized mediation model connecting teacher behavior with peer liking and disliking status, via peer perceptions of teacher liking and disliking for the student. We used a longitudinal design and controlled for peer perceptions of student behavior. A sample of 1,420 5th-grade students (Mage = 10.60) from 56 classes completed sociometric questionnaires at 3 time points within 1 school year. At the first time point video data was also recorded, and teacher behavior toward specific students was coded. A multilevel path analysis showed that teachers did function as social referents for peer status but only through their negative behavior toward a student. Negative teacher behavior was associated with peer perceptions of the teacher’s disliking for the student 3 months later, which in turn predicted peers’ disliking of the student 6 months later. Findings suggest that teachers play a prominent role in peer relationships, particularly in peer disliking. For practice, this suggests that it may be important for teachers to refrain from openly negative behavior toward students, particularly those at risk of peer rejection.

This study addressed the moderating role of classroom descriptive norms for overt and relational aggression, social withdrawal, prosocial behavior, and academic reputation in the association of behavior with social preference and popularity in early adolescence. Participants were 1,492 fifth-grade students ( X age = 10.6 years, 52.7% boys) from 59 classrooms who completed unlimited peer nominations for status and behavior. Classroom descriptive norms were computed as the average proportion of classroom nominations received for the different social behaviors. Multilevel analyses revealed that the negative association between overt aggression and social preference was attenuated in classrooms with high norms for overt aggression. The negative association between academic reputation and social preference was enhanced in classrooms with high norms for academic reputation. Classroom norms did not moderate the associations between behavior and popularity. The type of behavior and the type of status should be considered when examining classroom descriptive norms and behavior-status associations.

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