Friendships, Perceived Popularity, and Adolescent Romantic Relationship Debut

Rūta Savickaitė, Jan Kornelis Dijkstra, Derek Kreager, Katya Ivanova, René Veenstra

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study examined the association of friendships and popularity with adolescents’ first-time involvement in a romantic relationship (referred to as romantic relationship debut). The aim of this article was twofold: first, to disentangle the unique effects of friendships and perceived popularity; second, to separate same- and cross-gender peer nominations. Specifically, it was tested whether same- and cross-gender friendships or same- and cross-gender popularity were more likely to increase the likelihood of romantic relationship debut. Using longitudinal data of 590 Dutch adolescents age 12 to 18 (57 % girls) from TRAILS (Tracking Adolescents’ Individual Lives Survey), results are consistent with the hypothesis that cross-gender friendships and cross-gender popularity increase the chances of a romantic relationship debut. Findings indicate that peer evaluations by cross-gender peers of both friendships and popularity account for adolescents’ romantic relationship debut.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)377-399
Number of pages23
JournalJournal of Early Adolescence
Volume40
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1 2020

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Life-span and Life-course Studies

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