Social and behavioral predictors of popular, rejected, and average children

The social status of a sample of fifth- and sixth-grade students was determined using the Coie, Dodge, and Coppotelli peer nomination method. Students were classified along three sociometric dimensions: 16 students were classified as Popular, 17 as Rejected, and 62 as Average out of an initial screening sample of 143 students. Teachers completed the Social Skills Rating System developed by Gresham and Elliott. A discriminant function analysis was employed to determine how accurately various dimensions of social behavior and demographic information (handicapping condition, gender, SES) classified students as Popular, Average, and Rejected. A combination of social behavior and demographic variables accurately classified students’ social status. These findings underscore the importance of examining the predictive worth of variables contributing to categories of social status and the need for a multivariate approach.