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More about being fun: Making friends to maximize social status
Mary Page Leggett-James1, Brett Laursen1
1Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
Journal of Personality
|November 28, 2023
Summary
Being perceived as fun early in the school year helps children gain friends, leading to increased popularity and social status. This effect was unique to being fun, not kindness or humor.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Social Development
- Peer Relationships
Background:
- Children perceived as fun gain social rewards.
- Limited understanding of what constitutes
Purpose of the Study:
- Identify qualities that make children fun.
- Determine how being fun leads to social success.
Main Methods:
- Two studies involving primary and middle school students (ages 8-13).
- Surveys assessed qualities of fun peers.
- Peer nominations tracked social status (likeability, popularity) over time.
Main Results:
- Kindness and humor were deemed more important than buffoonery.
- Being fun predicted increases in social status.
- Early perception of fun predicted friend gain.
Conclusions:
- Perceived fun early in the school year predicts friend gain.
- Friend gain subsequently increases likeability and popularity.
- The positive impact on social status was specific to being perceived as fun.
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