| Abstract: | This article examines the dynamics of peer relationships across the first 2 grades of Dutch junior high schools (average age 13–14). Specifically, we studied how gender and compositional changes in classrooms structured the changes in peer relationships between the 2 grades. Expectations were derived from past research, and we tested whether these held when methods for data analysis were applied that control appropriately for the dependence structure of the data (more specifically, multilevel analysis and a multilevel application of actor‐oriented models for network evolution). Analyses revealed that the stability of peer acceptance was relatively low and that it was affected neither by the level of classroom stability nor by gender. Dyadic relationships were moderately stable. Tendencies toward reciprocity, network closure, and gender similarity shaped the changes in networks of peer relationships within classes. Contrary to past findings, female newcomers in classrooms were equally as well accepted as male newcomers or established class members. |
