Training parents to mediate sibling disputes affects children's negotiation and conflict understanding

The effects of training parents to use formal mediation procedures in sibling disputes were examined in 48 families with 5- to 10-years-old children, randomly assigned to mediation and control conditions. Children whose parents were trained in mediation were compared with those whose parents intervened normally. Parents reported that children used more constructive conflict resolution strategies, compromised more often, and controlled the outcomes of conflicts more often in mediation families than in control families. Observations indicated less negativity in children's independent negotiations of recurrent conflicts, better understanding of the role of interpretation in assessing blame, and better knowledge of their siblings' perspectives in the mediation group. Thus, both social and social-cognitive gains resulted from experience with constructive conflict resolution.     

Conflict and the friendship relations of young children

The purpose of this investigation was to compare conflicts occurring between young children and their friends to those occurring between nonfriends. 53 children with a median age of 4 years, 3 months were observed and interviewed to determine who were mutual friends, unilateral associates, or neutral associates. 146 conflicts were also observed. Conflicts between mutual friends, as compared to those occurring between neutral associates: (a) did not occur less frequently, differ in length, or differ in the situations that instigated them, but (b) were less intense, were resolved more frequently with disengagement, and more frequently resulted in equal or partially equal outcomes. Continued socialization was also more likely following conflicts between friends. Conflicts between unilateral associates resembled those between nonfriends, although postconflict interaction resembled that between mutual friends. Conflict resolution strategies favored by friends maximize the likelihood that their interaction and their relationships will continue.     

Conflict in the Dyadic Play of 3-Year-Old Children

Episodes of conflict provide a rich source of information about children's development of interactive skills. In the present study, 184 3-year-old children were observed in dyadic play and the 287 conflicts that occurred during their play were transcribed and coded. In general, children's conflicts arose in the context of ongoing play and were brief, lasting less than 15 seconds. Most disputes concerned toy possession, and almost 80% were ended by the simple withdrawal of one or the other children from the conflict. When children responded with emotional intensity to conflict, their conflicts lasted longer and were more likely to be followed by continued negative interaction. Individual difference data were available for one member of each dyad observed in play. Children rated in infancy as having difficult temperaments were found to be more intense during conflict, to spend more time in conflict, and to score higher on an index of conflict resolution competence, whereas concurrent social behavior was not related to conflict variables. Girls scored higher than boys on competence at conflict resolution, and children with better language skills spent less time in conflict. The more time children spent in nonmaternal child care up to age 3, the less likely they were to initiate conflict.     

Conflict in the Dyadic Play of 3-Year-Old Children

Episodes of conflict provide a rich source of information about children's development of interactive skills. In the present study, 184 3-year-old children were observed in dyadic play and the 287 conflicts that occurred during their play were transcribed and coded. In general, children's conflicts arose in the context of ongoing play and were brief, lasting less than 15 seconds. Most disputes concerned toy possession, and almost 80% were ended by the simple withdrawal of one or the other children from the conflict. When children responded with emotional intensity to conflict, their conflicts lasted longer and were more likely to be followed by continued negative interaction. Individual difference data were available for one member of each dyad observed in play. Children rated in infancy as having difficult temperaments were found to be more intense during conflict, to spend more time in conflict, and to score higher on an index of conflict resolution competence, whereas concurrent social behavior was not related to conflict variables. Girls scored higher than boys on competence at conflict resolution, and children with better language skills spent less time in conflict. The more time children spent in nonmaternal child care up to age 3, the less likely they were to initiate conflict.     

Primary School Students’ Conflict Resolution Strategies in Turkey

This study examined conflict resolution strategies (CRSs) resorted to by sixth, seventh, and eighth grade primary school pupils in Turkey and identified gender differences in the resolution strategies typically resorted to. In addition, the study aimed to find out what actual conflicts students asked assistance for from teachers and what strategies students thought teachers used in dealing with their conflicts. The data for this research were collected via a questionnaire involving mostly open-ended items. Results supported the notion that three main groups of strategies (problem-solving, avoiding and aggressive) typically get implemented in solving conflicts. Problem-solving strategies were observed to be most frequently employed by the participants. There was a significant gender difference in terms of the use of CRSs, in that girls were more likely to use problem-solving strategies than boys. The majority of the participants tended not to ask for assistance from teachers in resolving their conflicts. However, students from low SES schools were more likely to ask for teacher assistance than students from middle and high SES schools. The participants also stated that teachers typically used two main strategies in helping them resolve their conflicts: problem-solving and aggressive strategies.     

Commentary on Comparative Evaluation of Early Intervention Alternatives

Young children's preferences for conflict management strategies were assessed with hypothetical puppet interviews. A total of 48 children enrolled in a university nursery school were each presented 12 vignettes depicting common peer conflicts. Vignettes varied as a function of conflict issue (roles and possessions) and peer friendship status (friends and nonfriends). Three conflict resolution strategies were contrasted: negotiation, power assertion, and disengagement. The results indicated an overwhelming preference for negotiation. In contrast, power assertion was the least desirable means of resolving disputes. No differences emerged as a function of conflict issue or friendship status. Neither were there differences according to the age or sex of the subject. The findings indicate that young children evince a similar preference for resolving conflicts through negotiation and cooperation as has been reported in studies of older children and adolescents.     

Conflict Resolution Among Preschool Children: The Appeal of Negotiation in Hypothetical Disputes

Young children's preferences for conflict management strategies were assessed with hypothetical puppet interviews. A total of 48 children enrolled in a university nursery school were each presented 12 vignettes depicting common peer conflicts. Vignettes varied as a function of conflict issue (roles and possessions) and peer friendship status (friends and nonfriends). Three conflict resolution strategies were contrasted: negotiation, power assertion, and disengagement. The results indicated an overwhelming preference for negotiation. In contrast, power assertion was the least desirable means of resolving disputes. No differences emerged as a function of conflict issue or friendship status. Neither were there differences according to the age or sex of the subject. The findings indicate that young children evince a similar preference for resolving conflicts through negotiation and cooperation as has been reported in studies of older children and adolescents.     

Japanese mothers' views of young children's areas of personal discretion

Sixty-four Japanese mothers of 3- to 6-year-olds were interviewed concerning their conceptions of children's areas of personal control. Mothers granted children choices regarding recreational activities, clothes, and friends to foster autonomy and competence, but they set limits around daily routines, recreational activities, and interpersonal confrontation based on moral, conventional, and prudential concerns. Mothers believed in reaffirming children's personal boundaries when children failed to follow through with their initial decisions. Mothers experienced conflict with children around daily routines and recreational activities and used various resolution strategies. Mothers perceived child resistance as egocentric whereas fewer considered it as establishing personal boundaries. Some age and gender differences were observed. Results supported the heterogeneity of social judgments and practices of individuals within cultures.     

Conflict,Understanding, and Relationships: Developments and Differences in the Preschool Years

Children's conflict management in three close relationships was studied longitudinally in 38 second born children, observed at home with their mothers and siblings at 33 months and at 47 months, and with friends at 47 months. Children used significantly more other-oriented argument with friends than with their mothers or siblings. Their use of reasoned argument with their siblings, but not their mothers, was related to their emotional understanding assessed formally at 40 months. The emotional context of conflict interactions was found to be important as an influence on children's use of reasoned argument, with less reasoning shown by children when they were upset at 33 months. The differences in patterns over time and in links with emotional understanding for these different relationships is discussed, and the significance of child-child interaction in the development of social understanding is highlighted.     

Children's opinions on effective strategies to cope with bullying: the importance of bullying role and perspective

In order to find out what children would suggest as useful interventions to stop bullying, we designed a questionnaire administered to 311 children (155 boys and 156 girls; mean age?=?11 years). Thirty-six items were employed to ask children how effective, in their opinion, retaliation, nonchalance and assertiveness could be in stopping bullying. Items were presented to children from three different perspectives (imagine you are the victim, the bully or a witness). We used peer reports to assess children's role in bullying. Children were grouped into bullies, followers of the bully, defenders of the victims, outsiders, victims and those not involved. The strategy most frequently chosen by all children was to cope with bullying through assertiveness. Bullies considered retaliation effective more often than their classmates, especially when they adopted the perspective of the victim or witness. Bullies did not consider assertive strategies as efficient in stopping the bully. Defenders, outsiders, victims and children not involved, on the other hand, were very much in favour of strategies aimed at solving the conflict through nonchalance or assertiveness, especially when they imagined being the bully. Girls chose assertive strategies more often than boys and younger children preferred nonchalance more often than older children, who tended to choose retaliation more often. Suggestions for intervention are made.     

Achievement versus maintenance of control in six‐year‐old children’s interactions with peers: an observational study

Conflict management is a skill best learned early in life, and lays a foundation for the development of future relationships. The present study examined the strategies children use when negotiating roles in a dynamic play situation. Participants were 156 children (M age = 6.5 years) in 39 groups of four, who were videotaped in a play activity that required the assistance of two children so that a third could view a cartoon. Groups varied in gender composition (all‐girl, all‐boy, mixed). Children in each group were unfamiliar with one another at the beginning of the session. There was more variation in the strategies children used to elicit the cooperation of peers than in the strategies they used to gain access to the resource. Children who gained high amounts of viewing time but did not often help others (individualists) said and did more to maintain their role, had longer turns, and used both prosocial and coercive strategies more than children who had high viewing times but often helped others (collaborators). Girl groups had more collaborators than boy groups, whereas boy groups had more onlookers (low viewing, low helping). Boys used a greater number and range of strategies to maintain control of the resource than girls did. The highest level of resource use was predicted by a combination of ‘successful entry’ and ‘individualistic maintenance’ strategies. Implications for initiatives to promote negotiation skills and effective conflict management in children are discussed.     

Predicting conflict management based on organizational commitment and selected demographic variables

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between different levels of organizational commitment (compliance, identification, internalization) of teachers and their different conflict management strategies (compromising, problem solving, forcing, yielding, avoiding). Based on a questionnaire survey of 418 teachers, this study indicated that male teachers are more likely to experience commitment based on compliance, and are more likely to avoid conflicts than female teachers. As teachers get older they are more likely to experience commitment based on internalization and on identification, and they are more likely to use problem solving conflict management strategies than those who are younger. The results also revealed that both identification and internalization are significant determinants of the use of compromising and problem-solving conflict management strategies. Commitment based on compliance is the only significant predictor of forcing behavior. Commitment based both on identification and compliance are found to be the important determinants of avoiding behavior. Of these two, identification was found to be the most significant predictor of avoiding conflict behavior. Conflict resolution through yielding was not predicted by any level of organizational commitment.     

Modifications in children's goals when encountering obstacles to conflict resolution

Previous studies have demonstrated that children's goals are associated with their success in peer relationships. The current study extends earlier findings by examining changes in children's goals during hypothetical conflicts. Participants were 252 children ages 9 to 12 years old (133 boys, 119 girls). As predicted, children's goals changed significantly when they encountered obstacles to conflict resolution, and these changes were predictive of their subsequent strategy choices. Both aggressive- and submissive-rejected children were more likely to evidence antisocial changes in their goals, including an increased desire to retaliate. They also showed reluctance to forego instrumental objectives. Other findings highlighted the need to investigate the combinations of goals children pursue as predictors of their strategies and the quality of their peer relationships.     

Conflict, Understanding, and Relationships: Developments and Differences in the Preschool Years

Children's conflict management in three close relationships was studied longitudinally in 38 second born children, observed at home with their mothers and siblings at 33 months and at 47 months, and with friends at 47 months. Children used significantly more other-oriented argument with friends than with their mothers or siblings. Their use of reasoned argument with their siblings, but not their mothers, was related to their emotional understanding assessed formally at 40 months. The emotional context of conflict interactions was found to be important as an influence on children's use of reasoned argument, with less reasoning shown by children when they were upset at 33 months. The differences in patterns over time and in links with emotional understanding for these different relationships is discussed, and the significance of child-child interaction in the development of social understanding is highlighted.     

An examination of the conflict resolution strategies and goals of children with depressive symptoms

The purpose of this study was to examine (a) the reports of conflict strategies and goals in response to hypothetical conflict situations, (b) generation of solutions to hypothetical conflicts, and (c) conflict in observed dyadic exchanges in children with high and low depressive symptoms. Children from Grades 4, 5, and 6 were divided into high (n = 57) and low (n = 57) depressive symptoms groups. Results indicated that the two groups differed on the types of conflict strategies but not conflict goals chosen in hypothetical social problem‐solving tasks. Also, children reporting depressive symptoms typically chose less effective strategies to solving social problems. In observed dyadic exchanges, the high depressive symptoms group employed more negative strategies than the low depressive symptoms group, but no significant differences were noted for the prosocial conflict resolution strategies exhibited. Findings and implications for children with depressive symptoms are highlighted.     

Behavioral, Affective, and Social Correlates of Involvement in Cross-Sex Friendship in Elementary School

The purpose of this study was to compare children with and without cross-sex friends on measures of social and cognitive competence, endorsement of sex-role stereotypes, and family composition. Subjects were 723 third and fourth graders (377 girls, 346 boys) from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds; 35% were African American. Measures included sociometric assessments of peer acceptance, friendship, and behavioral reputation, as well as self-reports of perceived self-competence and endorsement of sex-role stereotypes. In addition, teachers completed ratings of children's social and cognitive competence. In all, 92 children, about 14% of the sample, had one or more reciprocal opposite-sex friends; for 21 of these children, their cross-sex friendships were their primary or only friendships. African American children were more likely than European American children to have opposite-sex friends. Involvement in cross-sex friendships was unrelated to the gender make-up of the classroom, but was related to family structure. Comparisons of the children who had primarily or only cross-sex friends to matched groups of children who had only same-sex friends and to children who had cross-sex friends secondarily to same-sex ones revealed a number of differences between the groups in social competence and relationships with peers. Overall, children with primarily opposite-sex friends had poorer social skills than other children with friends, although they were less stereotyped about sex roles than other children, and were better adjusted than children with no friends on most measures. In contrast, children involved in opposite-sex friendship secondarily to same-sex friendship were as well adjusted socially as children with only same-sex friendships. These results suggest that children with cross-sex friends differ among themselves, depending on the primacy of the cross-sex relationship.     

Early Attachment Relationships as Predictors of Preschool Children's Emotion Regulation with a Distressed Sibling

The present study examined (1) the emotion regulation of preschool children by observing their emotional responses to a distressed younger sibling during a separation episode; (2) whether children's regulatory responses were related to sibling interaction observed during the separation episode, and (3) whether individual differences in these children's regulatory responses and the quality of sibling interaction could be predicted from early attachment relationships. Older siblings who ignored their younger siblings' distress were more likely to experience personal distress and use avoidant coping strategies. Emotion regulation strategies were related to the quality of sibling interaction such that older siblings who offered comfort to a distressed younger sibling were more likely to express positive affect in sibling interaction, whereas older siblings seeking adult assistance were less likely to engage in conflict and hostile behavior with a younger sibling. Preschool children who had an insecure-resistant infant-mother attachment at 1 year, were more likely to seek comfort from their younger siblings and engaged in more sibling conflict and hostility when they were 4 years old. The quality of infant-father attachment relationships was not significantly related to the child's emotion regulation at 4 years of age. Results are discussed with respect to the social origins of preschool children's emotional self-regulation and the consequences of emotional dysregulation in preschool settings.     

小学生社会观点采择和冲突解决策略的关系研究

社会观点采择能力作为一种认知能力,对儿童的社会化起了极大的推动作用。冲突解决策略被看成个体社会化、自主活动和社会性整合水平的指标。个体在冲突过程中使用的策略实际上反映了其社会化水平及社会技能的高低。本研究的目的在于了解小学生社会观点采择和两种角度中的冲突解决策略的关系,为帮助学生更好地发展有效解决冲突的策略提供必要的理论依据。研究得到以下结果：各个年级学生使用较多的冲突解决策略为问题解决、顺从和强制策略。社会观点采择的不同类型影响学生对问题解决的选择。总体上,情感观点采择和问题解决策略呈显著正相关。情感观点采择对问题解决有显著预测作用。     

Children's reports of conflict between simultaneous opposite-valence emotions

This study investigated children's reports of their experiences of simultaneous different-valence emotions and examined whether such reports included indications of internal conflict or ambivalence. A structured interview and a procedure to assess internal emotional conflict were developed and administered to children aged 9-12. Our findings call into question previous assumptions about the necessary presence of conflict. Children reported conflict in slightly less than half of the multiple-emotion experiences they described. When conflict was reported, children convincingly recounted a dynamic interaction between the 2 feelings, often personifying the feelings as arguing over what to do or which feeling should predominate. When children described the absence of conflict, they often emphasized the lack of distress accompanying the feelings or pointed out that the situation was relatively unimportant. Reports of conflict were related to the degree to which the positive or negative emotion was stronger and to the perceived similarity or dissimilarity of the 2 emotions: Conflict was most likely when the negative emotion was reported to be equal to or more intense than the positive emotion and when the 2 emotions were perceived to be different.