Popularity among Preschool Children

It is of interest to determine the concomitants of popularity among preschool children, for much of a child's adjustment in a group seems to depend upon the degree to which others find him acceptable. The good fellow, the leader, the isolate are partly defined by their relations to a particular group structure; at the same time there are some individuals who seem to make friends easily in any new group. Why is it that some children seem to be unpopular and unwanted members of a play group? Certainly preschool children experience acceptance and rejection by their associates, but some children continually appear to meet with rejection and others with acceptance. The following five minute record was taken from one of the groups of children used in this study and illustrates how a popular and unpopular child may be received by their associates. Child A was the most popular child in the group and Child X was the least popular. Children C, D, E, F and G were of the middle popular group.