Understanding Popularity in the

ABSTRACT—Much research has focused on youth who are rejected by peers; who engage in negative behavior, in-cluding aggression; and who are at risk for adjustment problems. Recently, researchers have become increasingly interested in high-status youth. A distinction is made be-tween two groups of high-status youth: those who are genuinely well liked by their peers and engage in pre-dominantly prosocial behaviors and those who are seen as popular by their peers but are not necessarily well liked. The latter group of youth is well known, socially central, and emulated, but displays a mixed profile of prosocial as well as aggressive and manipulative behaviors. Research now needs to address the distinctive characteristics of these two groups and their developmental precursors and consequences. Of particular interest are high-status an