With a sample of African American and European American 3rd- and 4th-grade children (N = 486, ages 8-11 years), this study examined classroom ethnic composition, peer social status (i.e., social preference and perceived popularity as nominated by same- and cross-ethnicity peers), and patterns of ethnic segregation (i.e., friendship, peer group,…

In accord with increasing recognition of the situation specificity of childhood social behaviors, individual and contextual differences in children's responses to potential peer conflict were examined (hostile attribution, behavioral strategies, and affective reactions; N = 367, 9-2 years, 197 girls). Situational cues from 2 sources, the…

Language is drawn on extensively in friendships but has received scant attention in the developmental literature. This study compared friendship quality in 16-year-old adolescents with and without specific language impairment (SLI), testing the extent it is predicted by individual differences in social behaviors and language ability. Participants…

First- and third-grade children, together with either a friend or a nonfriend, were exposed to cooperative and competitive goal structures. Children's performance was rewarded sequentially as follows: Phase 1, shared rewards; Phase 2, winner take all or proportional rewards; and Phase 3, shared rewards. (JMB)

Investigates 57 three- to five-year-old children's sharing of preferred and nonpreferred food with same-sex peers as a function of (1) whether or not the children had previous experience as recipients and (2) whether or not the child was shared with during the experience as a recipient. (HOD)

Rated gender boundary violation and maintenance of 47 preadolescents participating in a summer day camp. Found that children who violated gender boundaries tended to be unpopular with peers; and children who maintained boundaries were judged by camp counselors to be more competent socially than children who violated boundaries. (MDM)

Compares patterns of friendship in infants, toddlers, and preschool children who attended either a child-care center or a program for emotionally disturbed children. Younger children had fewer and more stable friendships; emotionally disturbed children limited friendships to single partners. Complexity of social interaction increased most within…

Assessed the extent to which preferential personal attraction was associated with behavioral similarity among newly acquainted children. Found that "discriminating" children were more behaviorally similar to preferred playmates than nonpreferred playmates, both in terms of cognitive play style and social participation. (AA)

Examined the hypothesis that young children's social behavior in stable groups of peers becomes relationship specific to some extent with increasing group socialization and predicts important developmental outcomes beyond these relationships, such as social self-esteem in middle childhood when children attend different peer groups. The hypothesis…

Examined academic and behavioral problems as a function of two dimensions by which rejection may vary over time: chronicity and temporal proximity. Suggests that all levels of rejection were associated with greater absenteeism from school, and more chronic and proximal experiences of rejection were associated with elevated externalizing behavior…

Investigated how children's decisions about allocating money to story characters were affected by the relationship (friends versus strangers) among the characters. Children's rationales for their decisions showed that equality was the most salient principle for decisions at all ages and that older children provided rationales based on benevolence…