Both McFarlane et al. (1995) and Connolly (1989) found that perceived peer acceptance and levels of social support are positively associated with adolescent levels of social self-efficacy.

According to cross-sectional research by Toner & Munro (1996), youth rejected by their peers were more likely than their non-rejected counterparts to attribute social failures to internal, stable factors, and to attribute social success to external, unstable factors. Additionally, peer-rejected youth with a maladaptive attributional style were more likely to report lower levels of social initiative and social assertiveness. Data was based on a sample of 90 early adolescents, of varied race/ethnicity, from the United Kingdom (Toner & Munro, 1996).