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Nice Guys and Gals Finish Last? Not in Early Adolescence When Empathic, Accepted, and Popular Peers are Desirable

  • Empirical Research
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Abstract

Little is known about attributes that elicit romantic desirability in early adolescence. The current study, with a sample of 531 sixth-grade students (45 % boys) attending ethnically diverse middle schools, used a resource control framework to explore which self-reported behaviors (e.g., empathy and aggression) and peer-reported status (e.g., acceptance and perceived popularity) predict the likelihood of being considered romantically desirable (i.e., receiving at least one “crush” nomination from an opposite sex grademate). Self-reported empathy was positively associated with students’ romantic desirability (primarily for those with high peer acceptance), whereas self-reported aggression on its own did not. Both peer-acceptance and popularity also were positively associated with students’ romantic desirability, and aggressive behavior reduced popularity’s effect. Although aggression may be integral for obtaining high peer status across cultures, prosocial behaviors were romantically valued. Our findings suggest that peer-vetted social status elicits romantic interest and during early adolescence, nice guys and gals really do not finish last.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF BCS-1147593) awarded to Amy Bellmore (PI), Melissa R. Witkow and Adrienne Nishina (co-PIs). Portions of this study were presented at the Society for Research on Adolescence biennial conference in Austin, Texas in March 2014.

Author contributions

A.R.B. conceived of the study, drafted the manuscript, primarily responsible for present study design, conceptualization and operationalization, primary coordinator of statistical analyses, and participated in data collection; A.N. participated in the design and interpretation of data, coordination of the overall present study and data collection, made extensive reviews of draft(s); M.W. coordinated the overall study and data collection, provided an extensive critical review and remarks for intellectual clarity; A.B. coordinated overall study and data collection, provided an extensive critical review and remarks of intellectual clarity. All authors gave final approval prior to manuscript submission.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Development Graduate Group, Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Andrew R. Bower & Adrienne Nishina

  2. Department of Psychology, Willamette University, Willamette, OR, 97301, USA

    Melissa R. Witkow

  3. Department of Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Amy Bellmore

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  1. Andrew R. Bower
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  2. Adrienne Nishina
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Correspondence to Andrew R. Bower.

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Bower, A.R., Nishina, A., Witkow, M.R. et al. Nice Guys and Gals Finish Last? Not in Early Adolescence When Empathic, Accepted, and Popular Peers are Desirable. J Youth Adolescence 44, 2275–2288 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-015-0346-5

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