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Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Peer Relations in Early Adolescence: Winning Friends and Deflecting Aggression

2002; Elsevier BV; Volume: 36; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1006/jrpe.2002.2348

1095-7251

Lauri A. Jensen‐Campbell, Ryan Adams, David G. Perry, Katie A. Workman, J. Furdella, Susan K. Egan,

Personality Disorders and Psychopathology

This multimethod research linked the Big Five personality dimensions to peer relations in early adolescence. Agreeableness was the personality dimension of focus because this dimension is associated with motives to maintain positive interpersonal relations. In two studies, middle school children were assessed on the Big Five domains of personality. Study 1 showed that agreeableness and extraversion were associated with both peer acceptance and friendship. Study 2 followed children longitudinally and examined the hypothesis that agreeableness protects children from victimization by peers. Agreeableness was associated with decreased victimization over the school year. In addition, agreeableness moderated the associations between behavioral vulnerabilities and victimization. At low levels of agreeableness, as behavior vulnerabilities increased, victimization increased, and at high levels of agreeableness, there was no association between vulnerabilities and victimization. Results suggest that of the Big Five dimensions, Agreeableness is most closely associated with processes and outcomes related to peer relations in children.