Adolescent clique

This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: article is largely based on late 2000s and early 2010s conceptions of cliques (for example, the inclusion of virtually non-existent cliques that used to be prominent like skaters). Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (March 2023)

Adolescent cliques are cliques that develop amongst adolescents. In the social sciences, the word "clique" is used to describe a group of 3 to 12 "who interact with each other more regularly and intensely than others in the same setting".^[1] Cliques are distinguished from "crowds" in that their members socially interact with one another more than the typical crowd (e.g. hang out together, go shopping, play sports etc.). Crowds, on the other hand, are defined by reputation. Although the word 'clique' or 'cliquey' is often used in day-to-day conversation to describe relational aggression or snarky, gossipy behaviors of groups of socially dominant teenage girls, that is not always accurate.^[2] Interacting with cliques is part of normative social development regardless of gender, ethnicity, or popularity. Although cliques are most commonly studied during adolescence and in educational settings, they can exist in all age groups and settings.