@article{6e8f788bd84a4c49850282367dc8b80b,
title = "Children's attributions for peer victimization: A social comparison approach",
abstract = "A social comparison framework was used to examine the relations between children's attributions for victimization and adjustment. In Study One, 192 nine-to ten-year-old children were asked why someone may pick on them. Results revealed attributions reflecting five causes of victimization that could be reliably sorted by direction of social comparison: (a) jealous peer (downward), (b) mutual antipathy (horizontal), (c) being different from each other (horizontal), (d) personal behavior (upward) and (e) being uncool (upward). Children's responses were used to create an attribution measure that was administered to 206 eight-to eleven-year-old children. Results were consistent with the social comparison hypothesis such that peer jealousy was uniquely associated with lower levels of loneliness and greater acceptance whereas personal behavior and not being uncool were correlated with greater loneliness and lower perceived acceptance and self-esteem. Findings supported the usefulness of a social comparison framework for understanding associations among attributions and adjustment.",
keywords = "Attributions, Peer victimization, Social comparisons",
author = "Visconti, {Kari Jeanne} and Becky Ladd and Clifford, {Claire A.}",
note = "Funding Information: This paper is based on a dissertation study completed by the third author under the advisement of the second author. Preparation for this project was supported by National Science Foundation Grant # 0318462 awarded to Becky Kochenderfer-Ladd. We would like to thank the principals, teachers, students, and parents who graciously participated in this study. Funding Information: Children were participants in a larger project funded by the National Science Foundation focused on bullying. Participants attended four elementary schools in the southwestern United States; schools were selected to be ethnically representative of the local population ( www.census.gov : 30% Hispanic/Latino, 57% White, non-Hispanic, and 13% Other) and socioeconomically-diverse as indicated by the percent of the student body receiving free or reduced-price lunches (26%, 56%, 79% and 95% for the four schools). Two cohorts of children were initially recruited when they were in grades one and three with additional recruitment efforts each year to retain adequate sample size. Study One was conducted in the second year of the larger longitudinal project when the older cohort was in fourth grade and their cognitive and writing skills were adequate for answering open-ended questions. Parental permission was obtained for approximately 67% of all eligible fourth graders (M age = 9 year, 9 months) resulting in a sample of 192 (51% male; 49% female) ethnically diverse (41% Hispanic/Latino, 46% White, non-Hispanic, and 13% Other races) students. ",
year = "2013",
month = nov,
doi = "10.1016/j.appdev.2013.06.002",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "34",
pages = "277--287",
journal = "Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology",
issn = "0193-3973",
publisher = "Elsevier BV",
number = "6",
}