With a line-up of heroines whose impossible beauty is matched only by their catty one-liners, Mean Girls is supposed to be an over-the-top portrayal of schoolgirls that classmates love to hate.

However, the film may be closer to home than to Hollywood fantasy, according to academics who have conducted research into teen popularity.

The study has found that Machiavellian pupils are at the top of the tree. Liked and feared in equal measure, such teenagers strategically balance aggression with charm.

Mean Girls, written by Tina Fey and starring Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Seyfried, was released in 2004 but retains a cult following, with its own Twitter account, annual day of celebration and a Broadway musical that is coming to the West End.

The popular clique of girls — the Plastics — dish out lines including: “I’m sorry that people are so jealous of me. But I can’t help it that I’m popular.”