Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 6, 2026

The Resident-intruder Paradigm: A Standardized Test for Aggression, Violence and Social Stress
Published on: July 4, 2013
Does humor explain why relationally aggressive adolescents are popular?
Julie C Bowker1, Rebecca G Etkin
1Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, 224 Park Hall, Buffalo, NY, 14260, USA, jcbowker@buffalo.edu.
Humor helps explain how relationally aggressive adolescents gain popularity. This association was stronger for boys and those with aggressive friends, suggesting gender and peer influence on social dynamics.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Adolescent Behavior
Background:
- Relational aggression and popularity are linked in early adolescence.
- The mechanisms behind this association, particularly the role of humor, are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate humor as a mediator between relational aggression and popularity.
- To examine how gender and friends' aggression influence the relational aggression-humor link.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of 265 sixth-graders (M age = 12.04).
- Peer nominations and friendship measures collected at two time points.
- Statistical analyses controlled for physical aggression, ethnicity, and gender.
Main Results:
- Relational aggression indirectly predicted popularity through humor.
- This indirect effect was significant for boys and adolescents with relationally aggressive friends.
- Humor partially mediated the link between relational aggression and peer status.
Conclusions:
- Humor is a key factor in how relationally aggressive youth achieve popularity.
- Gender and peer group norms moderate the relationship between aggression and humor.
- Further research is needed on the social strategies of aggressive adolescents.
More Related Videos
07:56Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
07:19A New Approach that Eliminates Handling for Studying Aggression and the "Loser" Effect in Drosophila melanogaster
Published on: December 30, 2015
Related Concept Videos
Aggression
Bullying
Secondary Motives: Affiliation Motivation and Aggression Motivation
Causes of Social Behavior III: Biological and Environmental Influences
Factors Influencing Attraction VI: Personality Traits
Attribution Theory