Print

Shoulberg, Erin K.

Psychology

2012

Ph. D.

The cential goal of the current study was to examine the influence of popularity goals on math engagement and achievement during late childhood and early adolescence. Although social goals have been identified as an important predictor of academic functioning during childhood and adolescence (see Wentzel, 1999; 2005), there has been a lack of work examining how students' popularity goals influence their academic adjustment, even though this is a developmental period when popularity is particularly important (Adler & Adler, 1998). In addition, the research that has examined the associations between popularity goals and achievement outcomes has not accounted for the multiple dimensions that underlie social status. Accordlngly, the first objective of the current study was to evaluate a measure of social status goals that accounted for three distinct dimensions of social status: popularity, preference, and social dominance (Lease, Musgrove, & Axelrod, 2002).
This study further examined the independent effects of these social status goals on mathengagementand achievement in a sample of 249 3rd _ 6th grade students. Moreover, given evidence that conceptions of popularity are contextually variant (e.g., Meisinger, 2007), the current study investigated if perceptions of popular students' math behaviors (PPSMB) influenced the extent to which popularity goals predicted math outcomes. Finally, Adler and Adler (1998) identified a group of individuals who strive to be popular, but are not popular (ie., "wannabes"). As "wannabes" appear to imitate popular students' behaviors as a means of gaining popularity, the current study also examined if the influence of PPSMB on the link between popularity goals and math outcomes varied as a function by students' actual popularity in the peer group.
Findings suggest that popularity goals, preference goals, and social dominance goals are related but unique social status goal dimensions. In addition, results revealed that social status goals independently predicted math outcomes; however, contrary to predictions, the pattern of effects was not consistent across math outcomes. The two-way interaction between popularity goals and PPSMB was not a significant predictor of math outcomes. However, exploratory analyses including gender as an additional moderator highlighted gender-based processes that predicted math behavior. Specifically, the association between popularity goals and math outcomes varied as a function of both PPSMB and gender. However, the pattern of moderation effects was not consistent across math outcomes. In addition, regardless of the outcome, for girls who reported high levels of PPSMB and boys who reported low levels of PPSMB, popularity goals did not significantly predict math outcomes.
Moreover, there was no evidence to support the notion that the inclusion ofpeer-reported popularity would influence the extent to which PPSMB moderated the association between popularity goals and math outcomes. However, there was some support for the notion that "wannabes" may be at risk for lower levels of academic adjustmentas follow-up analyses revealed trend-level negative associations between popularity goals and math outcomes (ie., importance of math and scholastic behavior) at low levels of popularity. Findings highlight processes that influence the extent to which popularity goals inform math adjustment and underscore the possibility that popularity goals may differentially influence math outcomes based on contextual factors.