Contributions of Male and Female Guests and Hosts to Peer Group Entry

92 7–9-year-old children (47 girls) were observed while attempting to join 2 relatively unfamiliar same- or opposite-sex peers who were playing a board game. Female guests were less obtrusive than male guests in their entry approaches, whereas male guests were more active and assertive. Guests were less behaviorally constrained when approaching same- than opposite-sex hosts. Female hosts were more attentive to the guests than male hosts, who tended to ignore the newcomers. Successful guests received initiations from the hosts, responded contingently to host initiations, and performed activity-related behavior. Since female hosts initiated more behavior to the guests than male hosts, and female guests were more contingently responsive than male guests, girls entering female groups were the most successful. These findings support the thesis that peer group entry processes and outcomes are affected by the personal characteristics and contexts of both the entering children and their hosts.     

Theory of mind and social interest in zero-acquaintance play situations

Many studies have examined associations between children's theory of mind and social behavior with familiar peers, but to date none have examined how theory of mind might relate to behavior toward unfamiliar peers in a play setting. Forty-four 4-year-olds (21 girls, 23 boys) participated in standard theory-of-mind tasks and in a play session with 3 or 4 other children who were unfamiliar. Children were also tested on general vocabulary ability. No relations were found between theory of mind and social engagement. However, positive associations were found between theory of mind and time spent observing, but not interacting with, other children. Possible explanations of the links between theory of mind, temperament, and social interest are considered.     

Anxious solitude and peer exclusion: a diathesis-stress model of internalizing trajectories in childhood

A diathesis-stress model was proposed in which the joint forces of individual vulnerability (anxious solitude) and interpersonal adversity (peer exclusion) predict depressive symptoms in children over time. Children's (N = 388; 50% female) social behavior, peer exclusion, and emotional adjustment were assessed at kindergarten entry and every spring thereafter through 4th grade, primarily by teacher report. Results indicated that anxious solitude and peer exclusion co-occur in children soon after kindergarten entry and that anxious solitary children who are excluded early on, in comparison with their nonexcluded anxious solitary counterparts, display greater stability in their subsequent display of anxious solitude. As hypothesized, the joint influence of anxious solitude and exclusion predicted the most elevated depressive symptom trajectories.     

"Birds of a Feather…": Behavioral Concordances and Preferential Personal Attraction in Children

The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which preferential personal attraction was associated with behavioral similarity among newly acquinted children. Participants included 69 focal children, selected from a sample of 236 7-year-old children who met, for the first time, in same-sex quartets ( n = 59) for a free-play session. Within each of these quartets, a "discriminating child" was identified; this child expressed a clear preference for one of his or her playmates over one other of her or his quartet playmates. Preference was determined sociometrically after the children became acquainted during free play. The results indicated that "discriminating" children were more behaviorally similar to preferred playmates than to nonpreferred playmates both in terms of cognitive play style and social participation. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the relation to the acquaintanceship process.     

The Relations of Children's Dispositional Prosocial Behavior to Emotionality, Regulation, and Social Functioning

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of a measure of children's dispositional prosocial behavior (i.e., peer nominations) to individual differences in children's negative emotionality, regulation, and social functioning. Children with prosocial reputations tended to be high in constructive social skills (i.e., socially appropriate behavior and constructive coping) and attentional regulation, and low in negative emotionality. The relations of children's negative emotionality to prosocial reputation were moderated by level of dispositional attentional regulation. In addition, the relations of prosocial reputation to constructive social skills and parent-reported negative emotionality (for girls) increased with age. Vagal tone, a marker of physiological regulation, was negatively related to girls' prosocial reputation.     

Inhibition in Toddlerhood and the Dynamics of the Child''s Interaction with an Unfamiliar Peer at Age Five

Measures of inhibition to social and nonsocial unfamiliar events, obtained in toddlerhood, were studied as predictors of social behaviors during an interaction with an unfamiliar peer in 100 5-year-old children. Social inhibition predicted a highly shy and inhibited behavioral pattern with peer and less frequent expression of affect during fantasy play; nonsocial inhibition predicted decreased involvement in group play. Analysis of the changing dynamics of the ongoing peer interaction revealed that the role of child inhibition as a predictor of social behavior may be mostly evident during the initial encounter with the peer. Children who as toddlers were particularly socially inhibited, during the initial phase of peer interaction showed a significantly stronger pattern of shy and inhibited behavior and proximity to mother. In contrast to existing evidence that maternal depression may be a risk factor for the child's long-term peer relationships, no differences in social behavior were found between children of normal and affectively ill mothers during a brief encounter with unfamiliar peers.     

Moving toward and away from the world: social approach and avoidance trajectories in anxious solitary youth

This investigation tested the person-by-environment hypothesis that the joint influence of behavioral vulnerability (anxious solitude) and interpersonal adversity (peer exclusion) predicts heightened social avoidance and depression over time. The study assessed 519 fifth and sixth graders 3 times during 1 year. Teachers reported social behavior and peer exclusion; youth reported depression. As hypothesized, anxious solitary youth displayed maintenance or exacerbation of social avoidance and depression in the context of high exclusion, but increased social approach and less depression in the context of low exclusion. Some effects were moderated by sex. The interaction of behavioral vulnerability and peer exclusion was more consistently linked to adjustment changes in anxious solitary youth than in youth with other behavioral profiles.     

Differential reactions to assertive and communicative acts of toddler boys and girls

34 children were observed in infant play groups. 2 sets of infant behaviors were coded: assertive acts and attempts to communicate with adults. No sex differences were observed at 13 to 14 months in any of these behaviors. However, adults attended to girls' assertive behaviors far less of the time than to boys' assertive behaviors. They attended more to girls' less intense communication attempts and to boys' more intense attempts. When 29 of the same children were observed in toddler play groups no more than 11 months later, there were sex differences in behavior. Boys were more assertive; girls talked to teachers more. Teachers no longer differentiated their responses to boys and girls. Peers reacted more to boys' assertive behavior than to girls.' We hypothesized that caregivers may use stereotypes to guide their reactions to infants because infant behavior is ambiguous. For the toddlers, behavior had become more defined, and caregivers reacted to the behaviors. By using the sex stereotype to guide their reactions to younger children, the caregivers may have perpetuated the stereotype.     

Gender comparisons of preschoolers' behavior and resource utilization in group problem solving

We tested the hypothesis that 4 - 5-year-old girls and boys in same-sex problem-solving groups would perform equally well when the group task required various cooperative and self-serving behaviors to obtain a resource. The hypothesis that girls and boys would employ different behaviors to obtain the resource was also tested. 20 same-sex, same-age groups of 4 children each (10 groups of girls and 10 groups of boys) were videotaped while solving a problem involving a cartoon movie as a resource. 1 child could view the movie provided 2 other children helped, 1 to turn a crank and 1 to push a light button; the fourth child was relegated to a bystander position. Results revealed that girls and boys were equally effective in achieving viewing time; gender variance in viewing time was significantly greater for girls than for boys; girls and boys did not differ in total behavioral output, but girls tended to use more verbal behavior than boys and boys engaged in significantly more physical behavior than girls; affect in boy groups was more positive than in girl groups; girls who achieved the most viewing time within their group differed behaviorally from girls who achieved the least viewing time, but did not differ behaviorally from boys; boys who achieved the most viewing time did not differ behaviorally from boys who achieved the least viewing time.     

Androgen and the Development of Human Sex-typical Behavior: Rough-and-Tumble Play and Sex of Preferred Playmates in Children with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH)

We hypothesized that girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), who experience higher than normal levels of androgens prenatally, would show masculinization of behaviors that show sex differences. Therefore, we examined rough-and-tumble play and sex of preferred playmates in 3–8-year-old children with CAH and in unaffected 3–8-year-old male and female relatives. The hypothesized sex differences in rough-and-tumble play were seen, with unaffected boys showing more rough-and-tumble play than unaffected girls. However, CAH girls were similar to unaffected girls. Additionally, CAH boys showed reduced rough-and-tumble play. In contrast, sex of preferred playmates showed the hypothesized pattern of results. There were sex differences, with unaffected boys preferring boys and unaffected girls preferring girls. In addition, the preferences of girls with CAH were masculinized compared to those of unaffected girls. Results are discussed in terms of possible influences of social, hormonal, and illness factors.     

Peer Reputation in Middle Childhood as a Predictor of Adaptation in Adolescence: A Seven-Year Follow-up

This investigation examines the predictive significance of peer reputation in elementary school for the quality of adaptation in adolescence. A normative sample (N = 207) of third to sixth graders was administered the Revised Class Play (RCP). Each received 3 scores (Sociability-Leadership, Aggression-Disruption, and Sensitivity-Isolation). 7 years later, 88% of these children and their parents participated in a questionnaire follow-up study utilizing a broad range of adolescent outcome measures (e.g., social and athletic competence, academic performance, behavioral symptoms, well-being). The 3 RCP scores were significantly related to both adolescent competence and psychopathology, supporting the predictive validity of the RCP as well as the continuity of general adaptation. Each dimension of peer reputation had a different pattern of prediction depending on the outcome criteria under consideration, suggesting the importance of a multidimensional approach to peer reputation. Positive peer reputation proved to be an important predictor of later adjustment. Sex differences were examined; results suggested somewhat different patterns of prediction for boys and girls, especially for the sensitive-isolated dimension.     

Reinforcing contingencies for sex-role behaviors in preschool children

Two groups of disadvantaged Afro-American children, a total of 30 boys and 25 girls, mean age about 42 months; and two groups of middle- and upper-middle-class children, most of them white, 35 boys and 31 girls, mean age about 44.5 months, were observed for patterns of sex-role-characteristic behavior and peer and teacher response to such behavior. At all times, the children in the two experimental groups were being taught by seven women and seven or eight men, about half of whom were Afro-American, half white-Anglo, and who were mixed in the two schools by race but evenly divided by sex. Boys engaged in 16% sex-characteristic behavior, 5.7% cross-sex behavior. The same figures for girls were 18 and 6%. There were no pattern or percentage differences by race or social status of children. Women teachers gave most of their sex-role connected rewards for feminine behavior to both boys and girls. Men teachers rewarded more equably, masculine behaviors for boys, feminine behaviors for girls. Children rewarded mainly their own sex, and gave rewards for sex characteristic behavior. The pattern was even clearer for boys than for girls. In Discussion, comparisons are made with other somewhat similar studies.     

Young children's play qualities in same-, other-, and mixed-sex peer groups

This research examined how children's play varied as a function of the sex of the child, the sex of the play partner, and whether they played in dyads or groups. Children (mean age = 52 months) were observed during their free play. Data revealed that boys' same-sex play was more active-forceful, further from adults, and more stereotyped than girls' play, and that this pattern was generally exaggerated in groups versus dyads. Children rarely played only with children of the other sex (other-sex peers), but about one fourth of their interactions involved children of both sexes (mixed-sex peers). Compared with same- or dyadic other-sex play, mixed-sex play was more likely to occur near adults, and was intermediate in active-forceful and stereotyped activity choices. Findings confirmed that children's experiences in peer groups vary depending on the sex of the child and sex of play partners.     

Psychophysiological and behavioral evidence for varying forms and functions of nonsocial behavior in preschoolers

Four-year-old children showing low levels of social behavior in a laboratory play session with unfamiliar peers were classified as reticent (unoccupied or onlooking behaviors) or solitary-passive (solitary constructive or exploratory play). Compared with a group of more social children, the children in both low-social groups were rated high on maternal reports of shyness and displayed a pattern of right frontal EEG asymmetry. However, only the reticent group was elevated on measures indicative of a fearful temperament, both concurrently and retrospectively. A subset of children in the solitary-passive group showed increasing levels of reticent behavior over the course of the visit, suggesting that for some children solitary-passive behaviors provide a means for coping with feelings of unease.     

Preschool Antecedents of Internalizing Problems in Children Beginning School: The Role of Social Maladaptation

The quality of children's social adaptation in preschool was related to levels of internalizing problem behavior following transition to kindergarten. Measures of peer acceptance, social skills, and social problem-solving ability were assessed in 79 4-5 year old children, and related to teacher's ratings of anxious/withdrawn behavior assessed concurrently and one year later. Boys and girls did not differ in mean levels of symptoms, but girls tended to show higher levels of stability in internalizing problem behavior than boys. As predicted, preschool-age children with relatively high rates of internalizing problem behavior tended to manifest lower levels of social competence than others. Moreover, low levels of social competence in preschool were robust predictors of persistently high levels of internalizing problems across the two time periods.     

Same- and cross-sex friends: Implications for interaction and social skills

Sex cleavages in toddler peer groups were investigated in two studies. In the first study, playmate preferences and initiations and responses to friends were examined. Three types of initiations and their responses were examined during the free play of 46 toddlers in day care centers. A preference for same-sex playmates was strongest in the oldest girls. Boys tended to ignore or refuse girls' initiations when the initiations took the form of specific requests to play a game compared with a more general approach. Friendships tended to be made with members of the same sex. However, children having same- and opposite-sex friends were less likely to initiate and respond to friends on the basis of sex. Children with fewer same-sex preferences initiated more games.In the second study, cross-sex friendships in 329 early toddlers, late toddlers, and preschool children were examined. Some children in all age groups had cross-sex friends, but the number decreased with age. Children with cross-sex friends appeared more socially skilled than children without cross-sex friends.     

Multiple perceptions of children's aggression: Differences across neighborhood,age, gender,and perceiver

We investigated how overtly aggressive behavior was differentially perceived by two types of perceivers, teachers and peers, as a function of student neighborhood, gender, and grade level. Participants (N= 765) were predominantly African American students in grades 3‐5 recruited from two urban public schools in southern California. The neighborhoods surrounding the two schools differed in levels of identified violent crime and economic levels. Teachers in the community experiencing more violence perceived student behavior to be relatively less aggressive and more similar across genders than did teachers in the less violent community. Peers in the community experiencing more violent crime perceived both boys and girls to be somewhat aggressive, whereas in the less violent community, boys were perceived as aggressive more so than were girls. In general, agreement between teacher and peer perceptions was stronger for boys than for girls. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Preschool Antecedents of Internalizing Problems in Children Beginning School: The Role of Social Maladaptation

The quality of children's social adaptation in preschool was related to levels of internalizing problem behavior following transition to kindergarten. Measures of peer acceptance, social skills, and social problem-solving ability were assessed in 79 4–5 year old children, and related to teacher's ratings of anxious/withdrawn behavior assessed concurrently and one year later. Boys and girls did not differ in mean levels of symptoms, but girls tended to show higher levels of stability in internalizing problem behavior than boys. As predicted, preschool-age children with relatively high rates of internalizing problem behavior tended to manifest lower levels of social competence than others. Moreover, low levels of social competence in preschool were robust predictors of persistently high levels of internalizing problems across the two time periods.     

Multiple sources of data on social behavior and social status in the school: a cross-age comparison

Behavioral data relating to peer social status were collected from peers, teachers, and observers on both first- and third-grade boys (ages 6-7 and 8-9 years, respectively). Peer and teacher ratings had greater intermethod agreement than observer data, although all 3 sources provided evidence that rejected and controversial boys were more aggressive than other boys. However, relatively little aggression was observed among the older boys, indicating that peers and teachers may be better sources of information about aggression in this group. Observational data differentiated among status groups on measures of activity (on task vs. off-task, and prosocial play vs. solitary activity) for both age groups. Rejected boys displayed little prosocial behavior according to peers and teachers, but were not less often engaged in prosocial play, according to observers. Neglected boys were the most solitary group during play; however, teachers rated rejected boys as the most solitary, contrary to observations. Controversial boys were seen as highly aggressive by all sources but as highly prosocial only by peers and observers.     

Prenatal hormones and postnatal socialization by parents as determinants of male-typical toy play in girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia

Toy choices of 3- to 10-year-old children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and of their unaffected siblings were assessed. Also assessed was parental encouragement of sex-typed toy play. Girls with CAH displayed more male-typical toy choices than did their unaffected sisters, whereas boys with and without CAH did not differ. Mothers and fathers encouraged sex-typical toy play in children with and without CAH. However, girls with CAH received more positive feedback for play with girls' toys than did unaffected girls. Data show that increased male-typical toy play by girls with CAH cannot be explained by parental encouragement of male-typical toy play. Although parents encourage sex-appropriate behavior, their encouragement appears to be insufficient to override the interest of girls with CAH in cross-sexed toys.