Editing Popularity (section)

=== Demographic differences ===

==== Maturity ====
Popularity is gauged primarily through social status. Because of the importance of social status, peers play the primary role in social decision making so that individuals can increase the chances that others like them. However, as children, individuals tend to do this through friendship, academics, and interpersonal conduct.<ref name="Adler" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=N.,G |first=Miller, Maruyama |date=1976 |title=Ordinal position and peer popularity. |url=https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.33.2.123 |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=123–131|doi=10.1037/0022-3514.33.2.123 }}</ref> By adulthood, work and romantic relationships become much more important. This peer functioning and gaining popularity is a key player in increasing interest in social networks and groups in the workplace. To succeed in such a work environment, adults then place popularity as a higher priority than any other goal, even romance.<ref name="Lansu"/>

==== Gender ====
These two types of popularity, perceived popularity and sociometric popularity, are more correlated for girls than they are for boys. However, it is said that men can possess these qualities to a larger extent, making them more likely to be a leader, more powerful, and more central in a group, but also more likely than women to be socially excluded.<ref name="Lansu" /> Boys tend to become popular based on athletic ability, coolness, toughness, and interpersonal skills; however, the more popular a boy gets, the worse he tends to do on his academic work. On the other hand, this negative view of academics is not seen at all in popular girls, who gain popularity based on family background (primarily socioeconomic status), physical appearance, and social ability. Boys are also known to be more competitive and rule focused, whereas girls have more emotional intimacy.<ref name="Adler">Adler, P. A., Kless, S. J., & Adler, P. (1992). Socialization to gender roles: Popularity among elementary school boys and girls. ''Sociology Of Education'', 65(3), 169–187.</ref>

==== Race ====
In some instances, it has been found that in predominantly white high schools, attractive non-white students are on average significantly more sociometrically popular than equally attractive white students. One theory that has been put forth to explain this phenomenon is a high degree of [[group cohesiveness]] among minority students compared with the relative lack of cohesion amongst members of the majority. Since there is more cohesion, there is more availability for one person to be liked by many since they are all in contact. This acts like [[Zipf's Law]], where the cohesion is a confounding factor that forces the greater links in the smaller minority, causing them to be more noticed and thus more popular.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Modeling Dyadic and Interdependent Data in the Developmental and Behavioral Sciences|publisher=Routledge|others=Selig, James P., Little, Todd D.|year=2008|isbn=9780805859737|editor-last=Card|editor-first=Noel|location=London|pages=61–86|oclc=221663023}}</ref> When considering race as a predictor for perceived popularity by asking a class how popular and important each other person is, African American students were rated most popular by their peers. Popularity in race was found to be correlated with athleticism, and because African Americans have a stereotype of being better at sports than individuals of other races, they are viewed as more popular. Additionally, White and Hispanic children were rated as more popular the better they succeeded in school and came from a higher socioeconomic background. No single factor can explain popularity, but instead the interaction between many factors such as race and athleticism vs. academics.<ref name=Kennedy>Kennedy, E. (1995). Correlates of perceived popularity among peers: A study of race and gender differences among middle school students. ''The Journal of Negro Education'', 64, 186–185.</ref>