Peer Relationships in Childhood Flashcards
Peer Interaction: Infancy and the Toddler Period
o 2 mo, infants are aroused by the presence of peers and try to engage with them
o 6 mo, smile, vocalize, and reach towards peers
o 6-9 mo, more complex, such as looking while vocalizing at one peer
o 2 yrs, now with increased locomotion and speech abilities, attempts are predictable, complex, coordinated, and lengthy
o by toddler years, children mimic mainly peers over adults
Peer Interaction: The Preschool Years
o by 3yr, children are willing to engage in lengthy social interaction, using symbols
• unoccupied behavior || solitary play || onlooker behavior || parallel play || associated play || cooperative play – Parten’s breakdown of interactions
o social-communicative understanding → more prosocial, cooperative, behavior
• but increased chance for instrumental aggression
• Beyond Preschool Years
o social skills, communication, and their rules increase with age
Children’s Changing Conceptions of Friendship
in early/middle childhood – friends live close by and have nice toys
o in late childhood – those who are loyal and share values
o in adolescences – those with similar interests/understands, are emotionally close
o these changes occur due to shifts in perspectives, a better understanding of reciprocity and many other unrelated themes
The Prevalence and Stability of Friendship
o typically most children have at least one mutual friend
• but this is hard to measure due to individual beliefs of friendship
o friendships are more unstable in the adolescent years
• now more exclusive and puberty is linked with a change in interests
Similarities Between Friendships
o children form friendships based on similar observable characteristics, similar behavioral tendencies, (hobbies, academic achievement, popularity, etc)
Behaviors Between Friends
o more altruistic acts, cooperation, positive affect, task orientation
o friends engage in more conflicts than non-friends
• resolutions are teaching methods for greater interaction
Gender Related Issues
o boys expect reciprocity, girls want it but do not necessarily expect it to occur
o girls relations are more intimate with less conflict than boys
• may lead to more conflict later on, while terminating friendship
o boys more interested in academic performance, ability, popularity, etc of friends
Children without Friends
o 15-20% of children lack the proper social skills/behavior for peer interaction
• associated with more internalized difficulties and peer victimization
o lacking a friend by 5th grade decreases one’s self-worth
• having just one friend alleviates the negative effects
Friendship and Adjustment
o better psychological healthy and ability to react healthy in stressful times
• however, can cause overthinking of situations → anxiety, depression
Friendship and Shy/Withdrawn Children
o “misery loves friendships” → become friends with similar peers – no disruptions
Friendship and Externalizing Children
o aggressive children form friendships with other aggressive children, but will typically encounter more aggression within these relationships
The Peer Group as a Social Context
o in middle childhood shift from group of peers to peer group identity
• changes in identity, social-cognitive ability
o peer group is a social context linked by group norms and values and collective guidance
Peer Group Functions
o according to Fine, group functioning teaches cooperative, goal driven skills, social structure, leadership, self-control, redirection of aggression
• strong peer networks→decrease in drop outs, pregnancy, delinquency
Cliques and Crowds
o cliques label the crowds
o crowd membership is important: informs individuals of expected rules to abide by, encourages identity acceptance or alteration, influences cognitive views
Methodological Issues in the Study of Peer Groups
o Social Network Analysis (SNA) – based on friendship nominations
• who they spend time with? detects groups, liaisons, dyads, isolates
o Social Cognitive Maps (SCM) – assess peer groups directly
• forms interconnected circles of people
Examining the Contextual Effect of the Peer Group
o peer groups encourage link between academic and social functioning
o academically weak children have social problems
Assessing the Quality of Children’s Peer Relationships
o perceived popularity – those that think they are popular, and may be highly visible within a group setting, but are not liked greatly by many
o adults and children have a somewhat fair understanding of quality relationships of children, though both are biased
Assessments of Peer Acceptance
o using sociometric popular children, have discovered 5 categories of acceptance
• popular, controversial, rejected. neglected, and average
• the more extreme categories tend to be consistent over time
o can also have children rate each of their peers
o is this ethical though?
Behavioral Correlates of Peer Acceptance
Sociometerically popular
• prosocial, positive relationships, assertive, leaders, non-arrogant
Perceived popular
• human, attractive styles, wealthy, athletic
Controversial
• combo of positive and negatively viewed social behaviors
Neglected
• less interaction, aggression, sociability, withdrawn, and shy
Rejected
• commonly due to instrumental/relational aggression, Bullying
• relational is a way to assert popularity
Rubin and Rose’s social information processing model
When encountering a problem, children select a goal, examine the environment, asses strategies, implement one, and evaluate outcome
Crick and Doge’s social cognitive model
Encode social cues, interpret them, clarify goal, generate potential response, evaluate their worth, implement
Arsenio’s social cognitive model
Integrated emotional experiences
o children must have strategies in order to problem solve
• exact strategies repertoire reflects child’s social personality
Cognitions and Feelings about the Self and Peer Acceptance
o perceived social competence→ trust in own peer acceptance and impersonal skills
• disconnect between reality and belief → leads to social problems
Outcomes of Peer Relationship Difficulties
o peer rejection → range of externalizing problems (i.e. antisocial behaviors) and internalizing problems (i.e. low self-esteem)
