Kids prefer being well-liked to being popular

Sydney, Nov 10

Children aged nine to 11 prefer being well-liked to being popular, a new study says.

For young people, being well-liked is much more desirable than being popular as being popular does not always mean you're well-liked.

The study by Stephanie Hawke, doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at the Australian National University (ANU), looked at nearly 200 nine and 11-year-old students.

It found that they viewed being popular and being well-liked as two very different things, and that popularity may not be something young people want.

“Both boys and girls agreed that many popular teenagers are disliked by the year group as a whole,” said Hawke.

“This can be for several reasons such as bullying, having an attitude of superiority and disrupting the classroom.

"Those students who are described as being both popular and well-liked manage to balance their high social status with positive qualities such as being kind and friendly.”

The study also found that there was a complicated relationship between both individual and group popularity, and how these were perceived by students.

“One interesting finding is that popular students are likely to belong to popular groups. This was contrasted with well-liked students, who were much less likely to belong to groups of well-liked peers,” said Hawke.

Hawke added that the results indicate that 'popular' students are not idealised in the way that popular culture sometimes portrays, says an ANU release.

Last updated on Nov 10^th, 2009 at 12:36 pm IST--IANS

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