Peer Sociometric Status and Personality Development from Middle Childhood to Preadolescence

Abstract

Sociometric status, the regard that other group members confer to an individual, is one of the most ubiquitous and behaviourally relevant attributes assigned to the person by the social environment. Despite this, its contribution to personality development has received little attention. The present three-wave longitudinal study, spanning the age range 7-13 years (n = 1222), sought to fill this gap by examining the transactional pathways between peer sociometric status (measured by peer nominations) and Five-Factor personality traits (measured by self-ratings and parent and teacher ratings). Sociometric status prospectively predicted the development of extraversion. By contrast, agreeableness and neuroticism prospectively predicted the development of sociometric status. Furthermore, individual-level stability in extraversion was associated with individual-level stability in sociometric status. The results were robust across different sources of personality ratings. We argue that peer sociometric status in the school classroom is the type of environmental effect that has potential to explain personality development. Because of its stability, broadness, and possible impact across a variety of personality processes, sociometric status can both repetitiously and simultaneously influence the network of multiple inter-correlated micro-level personality processes, potentially leading to a new network equilibrium that manifests in changes at the level of the broad personality trait.

Editorial: A Brief Wish List for Personality Research

“…brain volume and brain network connectivity, Genç et al, ; and resting frontal EEG asymmetry, Kuper, Käckenmester, & Wacker, ) processes and personality development (e.g. during the transition to working life, den Boer, Klimstra, Branje, Meeus, & Denissen, ; and in relation to the development of peer sociometric status, Ilmarinen, Vainikainen, Verkasalo, & Lönnqvist, ). The breadth of our field as reflected in EJP was also apparent with regard to types of contributions (theoretical and confirmatory as well as exploratory empirical work, meta‐analyses, statistical tutorials, and reflections on the field), applied designs (correlational and experimental, short‐term and long‐term longitudinal, and genetically informed) and measures (self‐reported and other‐reported, behavioural, perceptual, and neurocognitive measures), as well as the age groups that were considered (childhood and early, middle, and late adulthood).…”

Psychosocial Adjustment and Sociometric Status in Primary Education: Gender Differences

“…Similarly, the association between sociometric status and personal adjustment is well documented ( Gest et al, 2001 ; Bierman, 2004 ; Geukes et al, 2018 ; Ilmarinen et al, 2019 ). In this regard, it is worth noting that there are a greater number of studies that examine sociometric status in relation to externalizing problems as opposed to internalizing problems.…”

“…The stability of this status over the years was examined in the study of Jiang and Cillessen (2005) , with the older boys and girls showing more stability than the younger children. The stability of sociometric status over time is special relevant because strengthen the potential of social status on children outcomes ( Geukes et al, 2018 ; Ilmarinen et al, 2019 ).…”