Social interaction in children

A study comparing children identified through the
juvenile justice system as maltreated to nonmaltreated
children was conducted to assess differences in hostility
levels between the two groups. Hostility, conceptualized
as resistance to social influence, was hypothesized to
originate in early childhood as a psychological
distancing mechanism which generalizes to social
situations of all types. It was further hypothesized that
this distancing would promote resistance to social
influence and a preference for increased social diatance,
diminishing the impact of social learning modalities and
increasing the risk for the development of maladaptive
social behaviors. T-tests and analysis of variance
indicated no significant differences between the two
groups regarding hostility scale scores, although
maltreated children evidenced significantly less
susceptibility to social influence, and were found to
score significantly lower on socialization and social
adjustment measures.

In this short- term longitudinal study (N=428), the unique predictive association
between the positive peer nominated characteristic of being fun and peer status (peer
preference and popularity) was assessed in a sample of fourth through sixth grade
students. Concurrent hierarchical regression analyses and longitudinal structural equation
modeling analyses found that peer nominated fun positively predicted preference and
popularity, after accounting for the contribution of predictors potentially confounded with
being fun, such as prosocial behavior, academic achievement, relational aggression, and
physical aggression. The longitudinal association between fun and preference was
qualified by grade in school, such that being fun predicted increases in preference for
younger children but not for older children. There were bidirectional associations
between peer status and fun; fun predicted increases in peer preference and popularity,
but peer preference and popularity also predicted later increases in fun. The findings
point to the need to expand existing conceptualizations of the antecedents of peer status beyond known predictors and to examine the developmental shifts in the landscape of
children’s peer interactions that make certain characteristics more desirable at different
ages.

Children nominated same-sex, same-grade peers on aggression, victimization, friendship, and behavioral characteristics. Results showed that aggressive children did not have fewer friends, but did have more enemies than nonaggressive children. Victimized children had fewer friends and more enemies than nonvictimized children. It was also shown that aggressive children's friends are also aggressive and victimized children's friends are other victims. Children who were both aggressive and victimized were perceived as the most disruptive and least liked of all children. It was found that children's friends are indeed similar to them while their enemies are dissimilar.

One hundred ninety-four children in the fourth through eighth grades were administered self-report questionnaires to measure hyperactivating and deactivating coping strategies with their parents and best friends. Subjects also completed a peer nomination inventory designed to assess the degree to which peers are aggressive and/or victimized. It was hypothesized that children who scored higher on hyperactivating strategies would be rated as higher in victimization and that children who scored higher on deactivating strategies would be rated as higher in aggression. It was also hypothesized that as children get older, other relationships besides that with the mother begin to play a major role in predicting children's behavior with peers. Results confirmed these hypotheses.

The purpose of the current study is to examine physiological and behavioral components of emotional regulation and the development of empathy in preschoolers. It also examines how the parents play a role in their child's development of emotional competence. Behavioral and physiological responses were assessed for the children during stories chosen for emotional content (one happy and one sad story for each parent). Maternal and paternal ratings of self-expressivity were collected using the Self- Expressiveness in Family Questionnaire (Halberstadt et al., 1995). Greater vagal suppression occurred during the sad conditions suggesting that negative emotions require more processing strategies. Greater attentional scores were related to the child's RSA and higher resting RSA was associated with great motor restriction. The mothers had higher SEFQ scores than the fathers. Higher maternal positive expressivity, lower maternal total expressivity, and lower paternal positive expressivity scores were related to the children's displays of empathy.

The qualitative research study examined the teacher-student and student-student interactions that took place in two elementary parochial classrooms staffed by teachers nominated as effective by their supervisors. The study also examined relationships, similarities and differences between the teacher-student and student-student interactions. Qualitative data were collected including classroom observations, interviews with teachers, and focus group interviews with students. Results indicated that effective teachers supported their students organizationally through well-organized learning environments ; instructionally by using a variety of instructional scaffolds, strategies and materials while holding students accountable for their learning ; and emotionally by meeting students' needs for belonging and safety. Student-student instructinal and emotional supports reflected most of the elements of teacher-student organizational, instructional and emotional supports but also included some negative interactions not present in teacher-student interactions. Implications for classroom practice, public policy and further research in classroom interactions are given.

The current study investigated the change in relationship between an aggressor's attachment style (avoidant or preoccupied) and a series of characteristics in their victims' over a school year. Once a semester, participants rated themselves and their classmates on 16 personality characteristics and their aggression levels against other students. Only avoidant girls significantly refined their targets over the course of a school year. They increased their aggression towards girls with low appearance self-efficacy, a high avoidance attachment, high depression, high cross-gender typed behavior, high internalizing behavior, and low global self-worth.

This study examined how narcissism affects preadolescent children's choices of peer targets for aggression. Based on the idea that narcissists have a grandiose sense of self that requires nourishment, we hypothesized that narcissistic children are especially likely to attack peers who threaten, or fail to nourish, their grandiose self. We assessed narcissism and the degree to which each child's aggression toward peers depended on (a) the child's perceived liking by each peer, (b) the child's liking of each peer, (c) each peer's actual liking of the child, and (d) the child's perceived similarity to each peer. Participants were 197 children in the fourth through eighth grades at a university school. Narcissism predicted the four types of target-specific aggression in disparate ways for boys and girls. Narcissistic boys were especially likely to direct aggression toward male peers whom (a) they perceived as disliking them, (b) they disliked, and (c) they perceived as dissimilar to themselves. Narcissistic girls were especially likely to attack female peers whom they perceived as similar to themselves. Narcissism may enhance different motives for boys and girls in same-sex peer relatinships. We propose that narcissism enhances investment in status and rivalry amoung girls while enhancing the motive to attack dissimilar peers among boys.

One of the hypotheses put forth by the Gender Self-Socialization Model (GSSM) is the stereotype emulation hypothesis. This hypothesis states that one role of gender identity is to motivate children to follow gender stereotypes that they have internalized. The GSSM also states that each of the constructs of gender identity, gender stereotypes, and gender typing is product of the cognitive interplay between the other two. Egan and Perry (2001) conceptualized gender identity as multidimensional, and one of these dimensions is felt pressure against other gender behavior. This study found that there was an interaction between one aspect of gender identity (felt pressure) and gender stereotypes, supporting the stereotype emulation hypothesis. This study also found that the interaction between felt pressure and sexism was more powerful in predicting adjustment in children than looking only at the main effect of felt pressure.