Development of friendships and peer groups Flashcards
Why are friends important?
Maunder & Monks, 2019
- development of social skills
- Links with mental health and school success
- development of social skills
Whats the difference between a friend and a peer.
A peer is someone in the same friendship group where as a friend is someone you mutually like.
What Research methods are used in Friendship research
- Observation
- Peer (sociometric) nominations
- Rating scales
- Paired comparisons of nominations/ratings
- social network analysis
What is it meant by popular and rejected children?
Popular; good social skills, not aggressive
Rejected; Aggressive or withdrawn
What is it meant by neglected or controversial children?
Neglected; less sociable and disruptive than average
Controversial; characteristics of popular and rejected, group leaders
What are examples of social cognitive development?
- Cooperation
- Negotiation
- Mental state awareness
- Emotional awareness
Do friendships support social cognitive development
Piaget believes that friendships lead to explanation of how the world works as well as coming up with explanations
Vygotsky believes that friendships help with skills for personal growth.
Early friendship development (Selman, 1981)
Between 3 and 7:
- there may be disagreements over toys
Between 4 and 9:
- friendships are selfish, they occur because they are beneficial to each person
Later friendship development (Selman, 1981)
Between 6 and 12:
- able to understand what it is like to have shared experiences
- concerned about who we like and dislike
Between 9 and 15:
- intimate relationships
- share personal problems
Between 12 and adulthood:
- can be independent and dependent
How do children select friends (Epstein, 1989)
Proximity:
- young children have friends close older accept more distance
Same age:
- early and middle age children have friends the same age
Similarity:
- young children like similar location
- older like common interests
What cues do children use to decide who they are friends with. Liberman & Shaw (2019)
- 3-5 year olds believe play is the most important
- 6-11 year olds find play to be more important than gender
Infancy friendships Howes & Colleagues
- 12-18 months, smiles and reaches for specific peers
- 12-24 months, more likely to comfort specific peers
- 20 months, play with specific peers instead of others.
Friends in early childhood
- Reciprocated friendships
- Friendships more likely with same gender
- some peers have more power than others
Cross sex friendships (McDougall & Hymel, 2007)
81 % of 9-11 year olds agree that cross sex friendships exist
Ethnicity and Friendship (Hamm, 2000)
- Majority of African Americans and European Americans had friends from the same background (80%)
- 60% of Asian Americans had friends from the same background
Ethnicity and Friendship Bagci et al (2014)
- carried out in London, 684 (11 year olds)
- only 3% reported not having cross ethnic friends
How do friends interact differently compared to non friends
- there is more pretend play
- there can be more conflict but also more likely to then resolve the conflict
How are friends similar Haselager et al, 1998
- Friends have similar depression levels
- Girls are similar in levels of help they offer
- Boys are similar in shyness
How are adolescent friends similar (Hartup 1998, and Hamm, 2000)
- similar attitudes to school and drug useage
How do friendship groups differ (Lee, Howes & Chamberlain, 2007)
- girls have larger social networks
- girls had more ethnically diverse social networks
- gender is more important than ethnicity
What is a clique
A type of friendship group but the members in the group don’t always see themselves as friends
- in young children same sex and race
- for validation and social reasons - older children
- adolescence belong to more than one clique
What’s the parental role in children’s peer relations
Secure attachment = good social skills
Insecure attachment = aggressive
- Parental belief
- Coaching behaviour
- Modelling behaviour
Types of bullying (Marini, Fairbairn, & Zuber, 2001)
Direct = Physical + cognitive
Indirect bullying = Social + Emotional
Types of bullying (Marini, Fairbairn, & Zuber, 2001)
Behavioural = physical + social
Psychological = Cognitive + emotional
Bullying Characteristics (Kljakovic & Hunt, 2016; Perry, Perry, & Kennedy, 1992)
- Mainly boys
- Power, hostility and reward (Motives)
- Aggressive
- Internalising problems
- Social problems
Are friends protective factors?
(Hodges et al., 1999)
- Children without best friend internalised and externalised behaviour
- Having a best friend predicted decreases in victimisation
Questions to Consider
What are the differences between a clique and crowd? To
support your answer, provide an example of each.
In what ways does having a friend ‘protect’ a child from being
bullied?
