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 nominrations 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.

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