Glosario de términos

Across the wider literature broad concerns regarding one’s image, reputation and peer judgements are associated with the concept of popularity (Bukowski, 2011; Cillessen & Marks, 2011). Popularity is an elusive and flexible social construct, which can vary depending upon the social context in question, the population of study and the researcher’s academic discipline (Bukowski, 2011). Across previous literature, the definition which is widely accepted is that of Bukowski and Hoza (1989), where popularity is defined as the extent to which a person is liked or disliked by their peers and how much status or notoriety the person has in the group (Bukowski, 2011; Lafontana & Cillessen, 1999).

Regardless of the definition adopted, an accepted feature of the concept of popularity is that it refers to the status of an individual within a group and an individual cannot be popular without the presence of a group (Bukowski, 2011). In order to be considered popular, the individual needs to be a central member of the group, adopting the group’s traditions, values and norms, and yet also appear distinct from their peers, asserting their own goals (Bukowski, 2011). An individual’s position in their social group will determine whether or not they adopt a behaviour and their role in encouraging others to behave in the same manner, thus those who are popular act as role models and shape the behaviour of others in the group (Phua, 2011).

Popularity can be conceptualised and measured in a number of different ways depending upon the research design and the perspective being assessed (Cillessen & Marks, 2011; Cillessen & Rose, 2005; Tucker et al., 2011). For example, popularity can be determined through observation or discussion in qualitative studies, or by using self, peer or observer (i.e. teacher or coach) ratings which are statistically analysed in quantitative studies (Cillessen & Marks, 2011). Self-ratings involve the individual assessing their own social status and degree of popularity on a series of questionnaire items, usually scored on a Likert scale, whereas peer ratings involve asking members of the group to nominate those

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they like the most or think are the most popular (Cillessen & Marks, 2011; Tucker et al., 2011).

Previous studies which have adopted peer ratings have demonstrated that popularity is a key social outcome associated with heavy drinking. Balsa, Homer, French, and Norton (2011) identified that US adolescents were socially rewarded with popularity for conforming to levels of peer alcohol use. Dumas et al. (2014), studying young adults in Canada, found that those who drank more frequently were considered more popular in their drinking groups than those who drank less. Dumas, Graham, Bernards, and Wells (2014) concluded that heavy drinking may be positively reinforced as it helps young adults to achieve or maintain a positive social standing among peers.

Alternatively, the relationship between student alcohol consumption and popularity may be moderated by an individual’s need for popularity, a dispositional trait which differs across individuals. Need for popularity refers to an individual’s motivation to act in certain ways because of a desire to be popular (Santor, Messervey, & Kusumakar, 2000). The need for popularity is considered a chronic, yet specific impression-management goal which can be measured using a self-report questionnaire (Santor et al., 2000; Utz, Tanis, & Vermeulen, 2012). Impression management is the process through which individuals monitor and control how they are perceived and evaluated by their peers, and are subsequently motivated to behave in a manner which will create a positive impression (Martin & Leary, 2001). In general, a need for popularity has been linked to specific personality traits and engaging in risky behaviour including sexting and personal disclosure on social media (Utz et al., 2012; Vanden Abeele, Campbell, Eggermont, & Roe, 2014)

In keeping with the concepts of need for popularity and impression management, young people in the UK have been found to consciously use alcohol as a ‘social tool’ to manage their own image and also a means by which they judge others, where drinking is a marker of status whilst abstinence is perceived as unusual or abnormal (de Visser et al., 2013). Positive relationships have also previously been identified between the need for popularity and beer consumption, experimentation with hard drugs and frequent use of soft drugs among 16-18 year olds in Canada (Santor et al., 2000). More recently, Thompson and Romo (2016) included the need for popularity in a composite measure of social norms which was shown to contribute to alcohol problems and alcohol related social media posting among US students. However, the links between the need for popularity, alcohol consumption and alcohol-related risk among UK students remain unclear.

Given the numerous ways in which popularity can be conceptualised and measured, it was important to select an appropriate starting point to explore the relationship between

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popularity and UK students’ alcohol consumption within this thesis. As a concept, need for popularity was consistent with previous research, where UK students had described being motivated to use alcohol to manage their image, reputation and to appear popular (de Visser et al., 2013). There is also intuitive appeal in exploring the extent to which students are concerned with popularity, as previous research has suggested that university students are particularly concerned with establishing and maintaining their peer group and will therefore engage in any behaviour which creates a favourable impression (Arnett, 2005; Martin & Leary, 2001; Merrill & Carey, 2016; White & Jackson, 2004).