Popular vs well-liked at 14: study

9th November 2009

WHEN you're 14, it seems you have two choices: to be popular, or be well-liked.

Poll

What were you in high school?

WHEN you're 14, it seems you have two choices: to be popular, or be well-liked.

But by the final years of high school, it's possible to be both.

An in-depth study into the minds of Canberra teenagers is the first Australian report to explore the concept of popularity.

PhD student Stephanie Hawke interviewed some 200 teenage boys and girls, asking what they think it means to be popular, what popular kids look like and how they act.

And according to the Year 9 students, being popular and well-liked were mutually exclusive.

Most agreed the popular kids - commonly perceived as bullies who indulged in risk-taking behaviours such as risky sex and drug and alcohol use - were disliked by the year level as a whole.

"In Year 9, the perception is you're either going to be popular or well-liked," Ms Hawke told AAP.

"But the really positive thing is that almost 100 per cent of them would prefer to be well-liked, even the self-identified popular people."

"Well-liked" meant you were true to who you were, the study suggested, which also revealed the friendship habits of teenagers.

Popular kids hung out with the popular crowd, while the well-liked students didn't stick to a particular friendship group at all, the study found.

It showed being popular was more about what group you hang out with, rather than individual characteristics, another reason they were not liked, Ms Hawke said.

But by Year 11, when most kids are aged between 16 and 17, students found the right balance between popularity and being liked.

Often, the well-liked student was voted school captain - a sign of so-called popularity.

Ms Hawke attributes the change to students being less influenced by the media and "developing their own sense of self, rather than just going with the flow".