Research article summary (published 30 Dec 1985):

Longitudinal analysis of adolescent girls' aspirations at school and perceptions of popularity.

Full Abstract

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine changes in adolescent girls' aspirations at school and perceptions of popularity as they matured, and to determine if there were any differences between participants and nonparticipants on interschool teams. One hundred forty girls completed a questionnaire each year for five years from Grades 6 to 10 (ages 11 to 15), answering the following questions: What would you most like to do at school? Which of the following make you most popular among your friends? and How many interschool teams have you been on? For aspirations at school the overwhelming first choice of the total sample was making good grades; participants ranked being good at sports second; nonparticipants ranked being popular second. For the total sample, being popular increased slightly in importance, while sports decreased slightly over the five years. As for perceptions of popularity, grades were most important in Grades 6 and 10, while looks were ranked first during junior high school. Interschool participants ranked grades and sports first or second, while nonparticipants chose looks as most important for achieving popularity.

Author information

Author/s: Butcher, J (J);

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Adolescence (Adolescence), published in UNITED STATES. (Language: eng)

Reference: 1986-; vol 21 (issue 81) : pp 133-43

Dates: Created 1986/07/25; Completed 1986/07/25; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 3728129, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Achievement Adolescent Aspirations (Psychology) Female Gender Identity

Humans Interpersonal Relations Longitudinal Studies Personality Development Social Perception

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