Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Laursen, Brett

Abstract

In this short- term longitudinal study (N=428), the unique predictive association between the positive peer nominated characteristic of being fun and peer status (peer preference and popularity) was assessed in a sample of fourth through sixth grade students. Concurrent hierarchical regression analyses and longitudinal structural equation modeling analyses found that peer nominated fun positively predicted preference and popularity, after accounting for the contribution of predictors potentially confounded with being fun, such as prosocial behavior, academic achievement, relational aggression, and physical aggression. The longitudinal association between fun and preference was qualified by grade in school, such that being fun predicted increases in preference for younger children but not for older children. There were bidirectional associations between peer status and fun; fun predicted increases in peer preference and popularity, but peer preference and popularity also predicted later increases in fun. The findings point to the need to expand existing conceptualizations of the antecedents of peer status beyond known predictors and to examine the developmental shifts in the landscape of children’s peer interactions that make certain characteristics more desirable at different ages.

Extent

99 p.

Comments

Includes bibliography.|Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.

Identifier

FA00004690

Format

pdf

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