Merten's recent assessment of the responses of four boys who were associated with a low-status peer crowd in junior high school provides important insights on processes of social rejection in early adolescence. To build on these insights, investigators must broaden the sample beyond core members of one socially rejected peer group and broaden their methods beyond self-reports and self-assessments from rejected youth. Conceptual frameworks must consider the full range of characteristics that contribute to peer status-physical stature and development, personality traits, social skills, interests, abilities, and values-and be sensitive to contextual (school and community)factors that shape the peer group system and constrain mobility within the system.
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