Group Entry as it Relates to Various Elements of Adjustment: Exploring a Domineering Group Entry Style.

Abstract

Group entry behavior is essential to and even diagnostic of social competence (Dodge, Schlundt, Schocken & Delugach, 1983). It thus has important consequences for social adjustment, including peer acceptance and the ramifications of peer rejection. However, group entry has not been studied among adolescents and seldom in the context of school peer groups. The current inquiry, involving a compilation of self report and peer report questionnaires, examined distinct group entry styles identified by previous literature in a sample of 202 male high school students. This endeavor investigated implications of group entry style on social preference, social power, perceived popularity, relational aggression, and delinquency. Moreover, the study focused on exploring a heretofore overlooked style of pushy, domineering group entry that may or not be erratic but also may be skillful. Though hypotheses were supported modestly at best, this work prompts important questions – both concerning the growing body of knowledge about social development and the methodology used – addressed in the discussion section.