Recent research has highlighted an understudied phenomenon in the peer
victimization literature thus far: the overlap between high status
(i.e., popularity) and victimization. However, the research on this
phenomenon has primarily been cross-sectional. The current investigation
uses a longitudinal design to address two questions related to
high-status victims. First, the present study examined prospective
associations between popularity and two forms of indirect victimization
(reputational victimization and exclusion). Second, this study examined
elevated aggression as a consequence of high-status youth’s
victimization (using self- and peer- reports of victimization).
Participants were 370 adolescents (M_age = 14.44,
range = 14.00–16.00; 56.5% girls) who were followed for 1 year. Both
high and low levels of popularity were prospectively associated with
reputational victimization. Moreover, popularity moderated the
association between self-reported indirect victimization (but not
peer-reported indirect victimization) and aggression. The results help
build toward a more comprehensive understanding of both victimization
and aggression in adolescence. Findings are discussed in terms of
implications for a cycle of aggression in youth and the lowered
effectiveness of bullying interventions in adolescence.