Sociometric status

Sociometric status is a measurement that reflects the degree to which someone is liked or disliked by their peers as a group.

Developmental psychology
In developmental psychology, this system has been used to examine children's status in peer groups, its stability over time, the characteristics that determine it, and the long-term implications of one's popularity or rejection by peers.

The most commonly used sociometric system, developed by Coie & Dodge, 1988, asks children to rate how much they like or disklike each of their classmates and uses these responses to classify them into five groups :


 * Popular children - Children are designated as popular if they receive many positive nominations.
 * Rejected children - Children are designated as rejected if they receive many negative nominations and few positive nominations.
 * Neglected children - Children are designated as neglected if they receive few positive or negative nominations. These children are not especially liked or disliked by peers, and tend to go unnoticed.
 * Average children - Children are designated as average if they receive an average number of both positive and negative nominations.
 * Controversial children - Children are designated as controversial if they receive many positive and many negative nominations. They are said to be liked by quite a few children, but also disliked by quite a few.