Peer relationships are very important for adolescents, as they are closely linked to the development of mental and physical health, deviant behavior, and school performance (e.g., Raufelder et al. 2021). While existing research has often examined sociometrically measured and perceived embeddedness in school (e.g., Zander et al. 2018), the importance of relationship quality has mostly been neglected. Research shows that even students with many friends can experience feelings of loneliness if the quality of their relationships is rated negatively (e.g., Ferguson & Ryan 2019). It is particularly important for students’ mental health whether they are satisfied with their social relationships or feel lonely (Putarek & Kerestes 2015). Overall, there is a lack of systematic knowledge about the complex interplay between actual and perceived embeddedness and the quality of relationships in terms of their effect on satisfaction with embeddedness. Therefore, we investigate the influence of qualitative and quantitative relationship dimensions on the satisfaction with peer relationships at school. The study's sample includes 393 students in grades 4 to 10 from a model school in Germany that is structured around mixed-age core and project groups instead of fixed classroom settings. To survey peer networks, students were asked to select peers on different dimensions of social exchange from photos in an on-site computer aided survey. Sociometric methods were used to calculate popularity—i.e., the number of incoming friendship nominations (indegree)—as a measure of actual integration (Borgatti et al. 2018). Relationship quality was assessed using an adapted and translated version of the Network of Relationship Inventory (Furman & Buhrmester 1985). Satisfaction with embeddedness was also assessed using the adapted and translated subscale from Furman & Buhrmester (1985). A scale by Kunter (2005) was used to measure perceived embeddedness. In line with the findings of Ferguson & Ryan (2019), hierarchical regression models show that the indegree has only a minor influence on social satisfaction with a low variance explanation. In contrast, the perceived quality of relationships and perceived embeddedness have a high explanatory power. Our results suggest that, independent of the students’ age, perceived embeddedness and the assessment of the quality of friendships are more important for satisfaction and, thus, mental health than the sheer number of contacts. Conversely, this shows the need for teachers to be sensitive about the students’ wellbeing even if they appear popular amongst their peers.

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