Who Are Popular, Liked, and Admired? Longitudinal Associations between Three Social Status and Academic-Social Behavior

Peer social status has been identified as central to youth’s development. Whereas the majority of studies has focused on popularity and likability, recent efforts emphasize the need to consider admiration which captures how much peers respect and want to be like particular youth. The current study examined the overlap between the three types of social status (popularity, likability, and admiration), and investigated concurrent and longitudinal associations between social status and academic-social behavior. At each of 2 waves (five months apart), 736 South Korean youth (M_age = 12.5; 53% girls) made behavioral and social status nominations of their peers in classes. Popularity, likability, and admiration were only weakly associated with each other, and each social status was characterized by distinct behavioral features. Specifically, admiration was most strongly associated with academic engagement and prosocial behavior. Cross-lagged models revealed a bidirectional relationship between academic engagement and admiration. Academic engagement led to gains in admiration and admiration led to increases in academic engagement. The findings emphasize the need to focus on admiration to support youth’s positive adjustment.