Can I change my popularity? Examining the constructs of self-efficacy and mindset for popularity

The multifaceted nature of peer social status entails personal benefits and potential detrimental effects that are particularly relevant to adolescents, as they place a higher emphasis on popularity and being well-liked compared to other stages of development. The study examined adolescents' motivational constructs related to gaining or changing popularity and likeability and their associations with other social status factors on a sample of 280 secondary school students from a single urban school. It aimed to establish and examine the psychometric properties of four popularity motivation scales (self-efficacy and mindset for popularity and likability), investigate their construct validity, and explore their relationship with participants' social status goals and self-beliefs. The study's results confirmed the existence of four distinct motivational dimensions related to popularity that were found to correspond with various social status goals and self-beliefs, suggesting that adolescents hold motivations for changing their popularity and likability that might align with other social status factors. In addition, the study found that mindset for popularity and likability had limited associations with other social status self-beliefs, indicating that the belief in the capacity to change one's popularity and likability may have a smaller impact on overall perceptions of social status compared to self-efficacy.