Education

Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology, Temple University

B.A. in Psychology, University of Notre Dame

Biography

Molly Dawes earned her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA working with Hongling Xie in the Transition to Middle School Lab. Following her graduate degree, Dawes spent three years as a postdoc working with Thomas Farmer on two Institute of Education Sciences (IES) grants at Virginia Commonwealth University and College of William and Mary focused on supporting middle school teachers as they promote positive peer relationships and academic contexts at school.

Research/Areas of Expertise

Dawes’ research is at the intersection of developmental and education sciences and includes three related lines of inquiry: (1) how do youth navigate the changes they experience during the early adolescent developmental period, particularly in relation to their social goals and peer experience; (2) how teachers can support positive peer relationships through social dynamics management; and (3) what preservice teachers know about bullying and their readiness to manage bullying in the classroom. Topics related to the first line of inquiry include: bullying and victimization (especially high-status victims); physical and social aggression; social goals (e.g., popularity goal); peer social dynamics (e.g., popularity status, peer groups); perceptions of the bullying and academic ecology; and peer social norms. Topics related to the second line of inquiry include: teacher attunement to perpetrators and victims of aggression and teacher strategies to manage peer social dynamics. For the third line of inquiry, topics include preservice teachers’ definition of bullying, knowledge and attitudes toward bullying, and confidence to manage bullying among students. 

Selected Publications

Dawes, M., & Norwalk, K. E. (2022). Why do students become popular? In M. H. Jones (Ed.), Peer Relationships in Classroom Management: Evidence and Interventions for Teaching (1^st ed.). New York: Routledge.

Dawes, M., Gariton, C., Starrett, A., Idram, G., & Irvin, M. (2022). Preservice teachers’ knowledge and attitudes toward bullying: A systematic review. Review of Educational Research. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543221094081

Malamut, S. T., Dawes, M., van den Berg, Y., Lansu, T. A. M., Schwartz, D., & Cillessen, A. H. N. (2021). Adolescent victim types across the popularity status hierarchy: Differences in internalizing symptoms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 50, 2444-2455. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01498-w

Dawes, M, Sterrett, B. I., Famer, T. W., & Hamm, J. V. (2021). Teachers’ perceptions of middle schoolers’ social concerns: Strategies and barriers to supporting students’ social success. Social Psychology of Education, 24, 465-488. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-021-09622-1

Dawes, M., & Malamut, S. (2020). No one is safe: Understanding risk for victimization for low-status and high-status adolescents. Adolescent Research Review. doi:10.1007/s40894-018-0103-6

Malamut, S., Dawes, M., & Xie, H. (2018). Characteristics of rumors and rumor victims in early adolescence: Rumor content and social impact. Social Development, 27, 601-618. doi:10.1111/sode.12289 

Dawes, M., Chen, C-C., Farmer, T. W., & Hamm, J. V. (2017). Self- and Peer-Identified Victims in Late Childhood: Differences in Perceptions of the school ecology. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. doi:10.1007/s10964-017-0688-2

Dawes, M. (2017). Early adolescents’ social goals and school adjustment. Social Psychology of Education. doi:10.1007/s11218-017-9380-3

Farmer, T. W., Dawes, M., Hamm, J. V., Lee, D., Mehtaji, M., Hoffman, A. S., & Brooks, D. S. (2017). Classroom social dynamics management: Why the invisible hand of the teacher matters for special education. Remedial and Special Education. doi:10.1177/0741932517718359

Dawes, M., Chen, C-C., Zumbrunn, S. K., Mehtaji, M., Farmer, T. W., & Hamm, J. V. (2016). Teacher attunement to peer-nominated aggressors. Aggressive Behavior. doi:10.1002/ab.21686

Dawes, M., & Xie, H. (2016). The trajectory of popularity goal during the transition to middle school. Journal of Early Adolescence. Early online publication. doi:10.1177/0272431615626301

Dawes, M., & Xie, H. (2014). The role of popularity goal in early adolescents’ behaviors and popularity status. Developmental Psychology, 50, 489-497. doi:10.1037/a0032999

Selected Presentations

Dawes, M., Chen, C-C., Hamm, J. V., & Farmer, T. W. (2017). Differences in Perceptions of the Bullying and Academic Ecology: Associations with Norm Salience. Poster to be presented at the 2017 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development, Austin, TX.

Chen, C-C., Dawes, M., Farmer, T. W., & Hamm, J. V. (2017). Risk Configurations, Interpersonal Characteristics, and Patterns of School Adjustment Among Boys in 6th Grade. Poster to be presented at the 2017 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development, Austin, TX.

Dawes, M., Farmer, T., Chen, C-C., & Hamm, J. V. (2016). Changes in victims group status according to peer- and self-reports of victimization from the 5th to 6th grades. Poster presented at the 2016 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence, Baltimore, MD.

Chen, C-C., Dawes, M., Farmer, T. W. Peer group influences on bias in self-perceptions of aggression among youth in early adolescence. Poster presented at the 2016 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence, Baltimore, MD.

Dawes, M., Malamut, S., Wurster, T., & Xie, H. (2014). Examining characteristics of adolescents’ rumors during the transition to middle school. Poster presented at the 2015 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence, Austin, TX

Dawes, M., Wurster, T., Hock, A., Jester, D., & Xie, H. (2013). Private and perceived peer reactions to physical fights: Changes from 5th to 6th grade. Poster presented at the 2013 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development, Seattle, WA

Dawes, M., Hock, A., Wurster, T., & Xie, H. (2013). A narrative account of physical fights in 5th and 6th grade. Poster presented at the 2013 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development, Seattle, WA

Awards

College of Education Early Career Research Award, Spring 2022

Academic Integrity Award, University of South Carolina, Spring 2019