Academic Correlates of Peer Crowd Affiliation in Adolescence

Abstract

This study sought to explore the relationship between students? crowd labels and their socio-emotional adjustment and academic performance.Participants were 374 seventh grade students (197 boys, 177 girls, M = 12.52 years, SD = 0.61) from a moderately sized middle school in a lower-class urban section of Los Angeles County. Crowd labels were obtained through interviews with peers. Academic performance was determined by school reported GPA and self-reported academic engagement. Overall, this study helps to paint a picture of the crowd structure in a low-income Latino school. This structure is one in which the populars and gangbangers are at the top of the social hierarchy, yet are also aggressive and perform poorly in school (in the case of the gangbangers). In contrast, the schoolboys/schoolgirls and loners are seen as unpopular by their peers and experience high levels of both overt and relational victimization.