Abstract
Social goals (i.e., objectives that individuals aim to attain or avoid in their peer relationships through their actions; Emmons, 1996; Parkhurst & Asher, 1985) are important for a variety of adjustment outcomes, but little is known about the factors that foster them. Exposure to peer victimization, either at a young and formative age or as a long-term burden, has a significant impact on how youth negotiate their social world, and may alter social goal orientation during the adolescent transition. The present study examined the hypothesis that exposure to higher early (second grade) levels of victimization and smaller decreases or larger increases in victimization over time (second-seventh grade) would uniquely predict lower levels of social mastery goals and elevated levels of social performance goals in the seventh grade. Longitudinal growth curve analysis was employed in a sample of 636 youth (298 boys, 338 girls; M(age) = 7.97, SD = 0.37) followed from second to seventh grade. Youh reported annually on peer victimization and reported on social goals in second and seventh grades. Compared to youth experiencing lower early levels and/or normative declines in peer victimization over this span, youth experiencing elevated early levels and/or smaller decreases/larger increases in victimization between second and seventh grade tended to endorse greater seventh-grade performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals. No association was evident for mastery goals. These results provide evidence that peer victimization can have resounding implications for the development of social goals, which can have long-lasting effects on social health and well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).