Conscious selection: Critical consciousness informs cultivation of social networks in a living and learning community

Abstract Increased popular discourse about societal inequities highlights the importance of critical consciousness (CC) as a developmental competency for youth. Peer dialogue has been implicit to theories of CC, but we know little about how critical reflection, action, and sociopolitical efficacy inform interpersonal mechanisms through which social networks are selected in developmentally salient contexts. We used social network analysis methods to explore the role of CC components in how late adolescents cultivated their peer affiliation and friendship networks within a specific context of a college living and learning community. Participants ( n = 37; 67.6% female; Mage = 18.18 years, 56.81% White) nominated individuals with whom they have positive interactions (437 nominations at wave 1) and friendships (157 nominations at wave 1) at two waves. At wave 1, participants reported on their CC components, frequency of daily inequities, and sociodemographic information. Stochastic actor‐oriented models were used to model how CC at wave 1 predicted how youth selected peer affiliations and friendships. Sociopolitical efficacy was positively associated with popularity in the affiliation network and activity in the friendship network. Critical action was negatively associated with both popularity and activity in the affiliation network and activity in the friendship network. These results provide new insights into how CC informs the ways young people cultivate their social networks in developmentally salient settings. This work highlights the need to better understand the relational implications of CC.