Predicting Mothers' Beliefs about Preschool-Aged Children's Social Behavior: Evidence for Maternal Attitudes Moderating Child Effects

Maternal beliefs about children's social behavior may be important contributors to socialization and development, but little is known about how such beliefs form. Transactional models suggest that children's characteristics may influence parents. At 2 years of age, the shy and aggressive behaviors of 65 toddlers (28 females) were observed during interactions with an unfamiliar peer; as well, mothers described the extent to which they advocated protective and authoritarian childrearing attitudes. These variables were used to predict mothers emotions, attributions, parenting goals, and socialization strategies in response to vignettes depicting aggressive and withdrawn child behaviors 2 years later. Most child effects were moderated by maternal attitudes or gender effects. Authoritarian mothers of aggressive toddlers were most likely to report high control and anger, to blame their children for aggression, and to focus on obtaining compliance rather than teaching skills to their children. Protective mothers reported that they would use warmth and involvement to comfort withdrawn children, especially their daughters.     

Young children's attribution of action to beliefs and desires

When and how children understand beliefs and desires is central to whether they are ever childhood realists and when they evidence a theory of mind. Adults typically construe human action as resulting from an actor's beliefs and desires, a mentalistic interpretation that represents a common and fundamental form of psychological explanation. We investigated children's ability to do likewise. In Experiment 1, 60 subjects were asked to explain why story characters performed simple actions, such as looking under a piano for a kitten. Both preschoolers and adults gave predominantly psychological explanations, attributing the actions to the actor's beliefs and desires. Even 3-year-olds attributed actions to beliefs and false beliefs, demonstrating an understanding of belief not evident in previous research. In Experiment 2, 24 3-year-olds were tested further on their understanding of false belief. They were given both false belief prediction and explanation tasks. Children performed well on explanation taks, attributing an anomalous action to the actor's false belief, even when they failed to predict correctly what action would follow from a false belief. We concluded that 3-year-olds and adults share a fundamentally similar construal of human action in terms of beliefs and desires, even false beliefs.     

Are emotions controllable? Maltreated and non-maltreated youth’s implicit beliefs about emotion and aggressive tendencies

Although child maltreatment places youth at substantial risk for difficulties with emotion regulation and aggression, not all maltreated youth show these adverse effects, raising important questions about characteristics that discriminate those who do versus do not evidence long-term negative outcomes. The present investigation examined whether implicit beliefs about emotion moderated the association between maltreatment and aggression. Maltreated (n = 59) and community-matched (n = 66) youth were asked regarding their beliefs about emotion and aggressive behaviors. Beliefs about emotion were more strongly associated with aggression among maltreated youth, particularly physically abused youth. Maltreated youth who believed they had poor ability to control emotion reported significantly higher levels of aggression than comparison youth. However, maltreated youth who believed they had high ability to control emotion did not differ significantly in aggression from that of comparison youth. Findings offer unique insight into a factor that may increase or buffer maltreated youth’s risk for aggression and thus highlight potential directions for interventions to reduce aggressive tendencies.     

Children's Understanding of Aggression and Withdrawal as Social Stigmas: An Attributional Analysis

3 studies examined children's ability to differentiate aggression and social withdrawal using attributional constructs. In Study 1, first–sixth-grade subjects read scenarios describing a hypothetical male peer as either aggressive or withdrawn. They then made inferences about the peer's responsibility for his behavior, the amount of sympathy and anger they would feel, and the likelihood that they would help the peer with his schoolwork and want him as a friend. Perceived responsibility, and its emotional and behavioral consequences, comprised a salient dimension along which all children distinguished the 2 behavior types. The aggressive child was perceived as more responsible for his behavior, deserving of more anger and less sympathy, and eliciting less willingness to help and social acceptance. Study 2 replicated these findings with 5-year-olds, but not 4-year-olds. Study 3 revealed that other attributional dimensions, namely, locus and stability, were also used by even first graders to differentiate aggression and withdrawal, but responsibility proved to be the most salient dimension. In addition, Study 3 documented a temporal sequence whereby inferences about responsibility influence emotions of anger and sympathy, and these emotions, in turn, directly influence social acceptance of aggressive versus withdrawn peers. The importance of perceived responsibility as an organizing construct for studying peer relations was discussed.     

Relational Aggression, Gender, and Social-Psychological Adjustment

Prior studies of childhood aggression have demonstrated that, as a group, boys are more aggressive than girls. We hypothesized that this finding reflects a lack of research on forms of aggression that are relevant to young females rather than an actual gender difference in levels of overall aggressiveness. In the present study, a form of aggression hypothesized to be typical of girls, relational aggression, was assessed with a peer nomination instrument for a sample of 491 third- through sixth-grade children. Overt aggression (i.e., physical and verbal aggression as assessed in past research) and social-psychological adjustment were also assessed. Results provide evidence for the validity and distinctiveness of relational aggression. Further, they indicated that, as predicted, girls were significantly more relationally aggressive than were boys. Results also indicated that relationally aggressive children may be at risk for serious adjustment difficulties (e.g., they were significantly more rejected and reported significantly higher levels of loneliness, depression, and isolation relative to their nonrelationally aggressive peers).     

Teachers’ Beliefs Regarding Subtypes of Socially Withdrawn and Aggressive Behaviors on the Playground Across the Early School Years

Research Findings: The purpose of this study was to examine teachers’ beliefs about and responses to children’s withdrawn behaviors (reticence and solitary-passive behavior) and aggressive behaviors (relational and physical aggression) on the playground across grades (preschool through 2nd grade) and by gender. Participants included 171 female teachers of preschool (n = 46), kindergarten (n = 45), 1st-grade (n = 41), and 2nd-grade (n = 39) classes from a Mountain West community. Overall, reticence was perceived as less appropriate than solitary-passive behavior, and physical aggression was perceived as less appropriate than relational aggression, although both forms of aggression were seen as less appropriate than both forms of withdrawal. Likewise, it was found that teachers do not take as proactive an approach to dealing with all withdrawn behaviors as they do in dealing with aggressive behaviors. Practice or Policy: Important gender differences were found and are discussed.     

Relational and Physical Aggression among Preschoolers: The Effect of Language Skills and Gender

This study examined the relation between language skills, gender, and relational/ physical aggression. Language skills of 100 preschoolers were assessed with 3 standardized instruments. Relational/physical aggression was rated by the children's teachers. Results indicated that relational and physical aggression tended to increase as language scores decreased. When the alternative form of aggression was held constant, girls' expressive language skills predicted relational aggression more than boys', and receptive language skills predicted physical aggression more than relational aggression, especially for boys. Classroom variables predicted relational aggression more than physical aggression. Results suggest that receptive and expressive language are important in predicting form and level of aggression. Implications for early identification of girls at risk for problem behavior in the preschool years are discussed.     

Relational and Physical Aggression among Preschoolers: The Effect of Language Skills and Gender

This study examined the relation between language skills, gender, and relational/ physical aggression. Language skills of 100 preschoolers were assessed with 3 standardized instruments. Relational/physical aggression was rated by the children's teachers. Results indicated that relational and physical aggression tended to increase as language scores decreased. When the alternative form of aggression was held constant, girls' expressive language skills predicted relational aggression more than boys', and receptive language skills predicted physical aggression more than relational aggression, especially for boys. Classroom variables predicted relational aggression more than physical aggression. Results suggest that receptive and expressive language are important in predicting form and level of aggression. Implications for early identification of girls at risk for problem behavior in the preschool years are discussed.     

Understanding the Distinctive Differences between Relationally and Physically Aggressive Behaviours Used in Early Childhood Contexts

Although there has been considerable research on the distinction between categories of relational and physical aggression, very little is known about the difference in nature of these behaviours. This study presented early childhood educators (N = 123) and parents (N = 112) with common relationally and physically aggressive behaviours, to determine whether item-level behaviours differ in prevalence, intervention and whether differentiated gender perceptions for each behaviour exist. Research Findings: Educators and parents reported observing and intervening in direct relationally aggressive behaviours more frequently compared to indirect relationally aggressive behaviours. Physical acts of aggression were reported more frequently compared to threats of physical aggression. Gender stereotypical perceptions of girls’ and boys’ aggression were evident, with boys being reported to engage in physical aggression more frequently. In comparison, relational aggression was more common in girls. At an item-level, there were some behaviours that educators identified both boys and girls using about equally. Practice or Policy: These findings highlight that meaningful differences exist between relationally aggressive and physically aggressive behaviours when examined at an item-level. A greater understanding of the most common behaviours used during early childhood will allow researchers, practitioners, and parents to focus their intervention efforts more specifically on these behaviours.     

The Role of Preschool Relational and Physical Aggression in the Transition to Kindergarten: Links With Social-Psychological Adjustment

Research Findings: The transition to kindergarten has important ramifications for future achievement and psychosocial outcomes. Research suggests that physical aggression may be related to difficulty during school transitions, yet no studies to date have examined the role of relational aggression in these transitions. This article examines how engagement in preschool physical and relational aggression predict psychosocial adjustment during the kindergarten school year. Observations and teacher reports of aggression were collected in preschool, and kindergarten teachers reported on student–teacher relationship quality, child internalizing problems, and peer acceptance in kindergarten. Results suggested that preschool physical aggression predicted reduced peer acceptance and increased conflict with the kindergarten teacher. High levels of relational aggression, when not combined with physical aggression, were related to more positive transitions to kindergarten in the domains assessed. Practice or Policy: These data lend support to the need for interventions among physically aggressive preschoolers that target not only concurrent behavior but also future aggression and adjustment in kindergarten. Thus, educators should work to encourage social influence in more prosocial ways among aggressive preschoolers.     

Young Children''s Understanding of Different Types of Beliefs

The purpose of this investigation was to see whether children's understandings of different types of beliefs develop concurrently. Children of 3, 4, and 5 years of age were told or shown that child story characters held beliefs different from their own or from one another, not only concerning matters of physical fact ("false beliefs"), but also concerning morality, social convention, value, and ownership of property. In contrast to the older subjects, most 3-year-olds had difficulty in attributing to others deviant beliefs of all types, except perhaps ownership, sometimes even after having been told repeatedly what the other child believed. In addition, intercorrelations among different belief tasks were positive and substantial. It was suggested that an emerging representational conception of the mind is what enables older preschoolers to understand the possibility of belief differences of all these types.     

A longitudinal study of the role of children’s altruism and forgiveness in the relation between parental aggressive discipline and anxiety of preschoolers in China

Using data collected over a 1-year period on a stratified random sample of 368 parents with children studying in nurseries (mean age = 3.97 years), this study assessed the predictive effects of parental corporal punishment, parental psychological aggression, preschoolers’ altruism, and preschoolers’ forgiveness on preschoolers’ anxiety symptoms in Hong Kong, China. Results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that parental psychological aggression, preschoolers’ altruism and preschoolers’ forgiveness at Time 1 significantly predicted preschoolers’ anxiety at Time 2, when controlling for the initial level of preschoolers’ anxiety and important demographic variables that co-vary with preschoolers’ anxiety. Moreover, preschoolers’ altruism moderated the predictive effect of parental psychological aggression on preschoolers’ anxiety symptoms. The study has several significant contributions. First, the study supports the predictive effect of parental aggressive discipline on preschoolers’ anxiety. Second, we provide evidence that preschoolers’ altruism and forgiveness negatively predict preschoolers’ anxiety symptoms. Third, preschoolers’ altruism and forgiveness are shown to protect them against parental psychological aggression. A dual-focus approach to intervention and prevention is proposed to reduce aggressive discipline by parents as well as to enhance altruism and forgiveness in children. Parent training programs could be provided to teach parents positive discipline strategies. Home-based or school-based interventions could be designed for preschool children to foster and enhance their altruism and forgiveness.     

Gender Differences in Children's Normative Beliefs about Aggression: How Do I Hurt Thee? Let Me Count the Ways

This research was designed to assess whether children view relationally manipulative behaviors (i.e., those behaviors labeled relational aggression in past research) as "aggressive." 2 studies were conducted to evaluate whether children view relationally manipulative behaviors as associated with 2 defining features of aggression, anger (Study 1) and intent to harm (Study 2). Results of Study 1 ( n = 459, 9–12-year-olds) indicated that relational aggression was the most frequently cited angry behavior for girls' interactions whereas physical aggression was the most frequently cited angry behavior for boys' interactions. Results of Study 2 ( n = 60, 9–11-year-olds) demonstrated that relational aggression and verbal insults were the most frequently cited harmful behaviors for girls whereas physical aggression and verbal insults were the most frequently cited harmful behaviors for boys. These studies provide the first evidence that children view relationally manipulative acts (relational aggression) as angry, harmful behaviors (i.e., as "aggressive").     

An observational study of delivered and received aggression,gender, and social-psychological adjustment in preschool: “This White Crayon Doesn’t Work …”

A semi-structured observational study investigated gender differences in delivered and received relational, physical, verbal, and nonverbal aggression in a young preschool sample (N=60). Findings revealed that gender differences in subtypes of aggression may be apparent as early as 3 years of age. Specifically, girls were found to deliver and receive more relational aggression than males, whereas boys tended, although not significantly, to deliver and significantly received more physical aggression than females. Relational and physical subtypes of delivered and received aggression were differentially associated with preschoolers’ social-psychological adjustment.     

Like Father, Like Son: Young Children's Understanding of How and Why Offspring Resemble Their Parents

4 studies investigated the broad claim that preschoolers understand biological inheritance. In Study 1, 4–7-year-old children were told a story in which a boy was born to one man and adopted by another. The biological father was described as having one set of features (e.g., green eyes) and the adoptive father as having another (e.g., brown eyes). Subjects were asked which man the boy would resemble when he grew up. Preschoolers showed little understanding that selective chains of processes mediate resemblance to parents. It was not until age 7 that children substantially associated the boy with his biological father on physical features and his adoptive father on beliefs. That is, it was not until age 7 that children demonstrated that they understood birth as part of a process selectively mediating the acquisition of physical traits and learning or nurturance as mediating the acquisition of beliefs. In Study 2, subjects were asked whether, as a boy grew up, various of his features could change. Children generally shared our adult intuitions, indicating that their failure in Study 1 was not due to their having a different sense of what features can change. Studies 3 and 4 replicated Study 1, with stories involving mothers instead of fathers and with lessened task demands. Taken together, the results of the 4 studies refute the claim that preschoolers understand biological inheritance. The findings are discussed in terms of whether children understand biology as an autonomous cognitive domain.     

Variable effects of children's aggression,social withdrawal,and prosocial leadership as functions of teacher beliefs and behaviors

Teachers' beliefs about aggressive and withdrawn behaviors in the classrooms and teachers' overall caring and support of students were hypothesized to influence the relations between these classroom behaviors and peer acceptance and self-perceived social competence. These hypotheses were tested in a sample of 82 middle school classes consisting of 4,650 students ages 13 to 16. The results suggest that teachers' aversion to aggression and empathy toward withdrawal enhanced the self-perceptions of both aggressive and withdrawn children and enforced peer rejection of aggression but not of social withdrawal. Teacher warmth had similar effects. Prosocial leadership had a positive social impact among students independent of teacher beliefs. These findings are discussed in an attempt to reconceptualize children's social behaviors and peer status.     

Community violence exposure, social cognition, and aggression among urban elementary school children

The effects of witnessing community violence on aggressive cognitions and behavior were investigated in an ethnically diverse sample of 4,458 children living in urban neighborhoods. Prior violence exposure had a significant effect in increasing aggression, normative beliefs about aggression, and aggressive fantasy. Although exposure to violence predicted aggressive behavior both in Grades 1 through 3 (ages 5-8) and Grades 4 through 6 (ages 9-12), the effects on social cognition were only evident in the later grades. Furthermore, the effect of violence exposure on aggression in the later grades was partially mediated by its effect on social cognition. These findings suggest that witnessing community violence has an effect on children's aggressive behavior through both imitation of violence and the development of associated cognitions as children get older.     

Children's developing awareness of diversity in people's trains of thought

This research explored the development of one insight about the mind, namely, the belief that people's trains of thought differ even when they see the same stimulus. In Study 1, 5-year-olds, 9-year-olds, and adults heard stories about characters who saw the same object. Although the older groups predicted the object would trigger different trains of thought, most 5-year-olds did not. In Study 2, 5-year-olds (preschoolers and kindergartners) and 7-year-olds heard similar stories, plus stories with additional individuating information about each character. With age, children increasingly recognized that thoughts would differ and could explain why. The development of this insight during the school years likely provides children with a more complete understanding of what it means to be a unique individual.     

Childhood Maltreatment and the Development of Relational and Physical Aggression: The Importance of a Gender‐Informed Approach

This investigation examined the associations between maltreatment and aggression using a gender‐informed approach. Peer ratings, peer nominations, and counselor reports of aggression were collected on 211 maltreated and 199 nonmaltreated inner‐city youth (M age = 9.9 years) during a summer day camp. Maltreatment was associated with aggressive conduct; however, these effects were qualified by gender, maltreatment subtype, and the form of aggression under investigation. Findings revealed that maltreatment was associated with physical aggression for boys and relational aggression for girls. Physical abuse was associated with physically aggressive behaviors, but sexual abuse predicted relational aggression for girls only. Findings suggest that investigating the interaction between familial risk and gender is important in understanding aggressive behaviors of boys and girls.     

Preschoolers’ Understanding of How Others Learn Through Action and Instruction

It is widely believed that exploration is a mechanism for young children's learning. The present investigation examines preschoolers’ beliefs about how learning occurs. We asked 3‐ to 5‐year‐olds to articulate how characters in a set of stories learned about a new toy. Younger preschoolers were more likely to overemphasize the role of characters’ actions in learning than older children were (Experiment 1, N = 53). Overall performance improved when the stories explicitly stated that characters were originally ignorant and clarified the characters’ actions, but general developmental trends remained (Experiment 2, N = 48). These data suggest that explicit metacognitive understanding of the relation between actions and learning is developing during the preschool years, which might have implications for how children learn from exploration.