Predicting acceptance and popularity in early adolescence as a function of hearing status, gender, and educational...

This study examined associations of communicative skills, social behavior, and personality with acceptance and popularity as a function of hearing status, gender, and educational setting. Participants were 87 deaf and 672 hearing early adolescents of 52 6th grade classrooms in mainstream and special education. Acceptance varied as a function of hearing status by gender; popularity varied as a function of hearing status and educational setting. Deaf boys in mainstream education were less accepted and popular than their hearing classmates and than deaf peers in special education. Deaf girls in mainstream education were also less popular but not less accepted. Communicative skills varied as a function of hearing status, whereas social behavior varied as a function of educational setting. Deaf mainstreamed children showed less developed pragmatic and strategic communicative skills (monitoring, improvisation, initiating/maintaining) than their hearing classmates, but more social adjustment than deaf peers in special education (more prosocial behavior, less antisocial or withdrawn behavior, and more agreeableness). For acceptance, deaf girls in mainstream education compensated the lack of improvisation with higher levels of prosocial behavior, agreeableness, monitoring, and pragmatic skills, and lower levels of antisocial behavior than deaf boys. Monitoring and pragmatic skills negatively affected a deaf mainstream boy's acceptance. In special education, gender differences in prosocial behavior explained deaf boys' lower acceptance. Popularity was explained by pragmatic skills and improvisation as a function of hearing status. Voter population difference and different social behavior norms are considered as an explanation for popularity differences as a function of educational setting.