This study investigated the motivational and social-cognitive foundations (i.e., inequality aversion, in-group bias, and theory of mind) that underlie the development of sharing behavior among 3- to 9-year-old Chinese children (N = 122). Each child played two mini-dictator games against an in-group member (friend) and an out-group member…

Adolescence is characterized as a period of social reorientation toward peer relationships, entailing the emergence of sophisticated social abilities. Two studies (Study 1: N = 42, ages 13-17; Study 2: N = 81, ages 13-16) investigated age group differences in the impact of relationship reciprocation within school-based social networks on an…

This study investigated differences in children's and adolescents' experiences of harming their siblings and friends. Participants ("N" = 101; 7-, 11-, and 16-year-olds) provided accounts of events when they hurt a younger sibling and a friend. Harm against friends was described as unusual, unforeseeable, and circumstantial. By contrast,…

Argues that developmental significance of friendships cannot be examined without distinguishing between the concepts of having friends, the identity of the child's friends, and friendship quality. Concludes that the identity of the child's friends and friendship quality may be more closely tied to developmental outcomes than merely whether the…

Children in the second, fifth, and eighth grades rated the importance and extent of companionship and intimate disclosure experiences in social life in general and in each of eight types of relationships. (PCB)

Examined linkages between 5- to 6-year-olds' participation in friendships, peer acceptance, and peer victimization and their school adjustment over time. Found evidence that adjustment was influenced by the diverse experiences encountered in different forms of relationships and that certain types of relationships had greater or lesser adaptive…

Four features of early adolescent friendship have received the greatest attention in the literature: intimacy of conversations, friends' responsiveness to each other's needs and desires, the degree of similarity or complementarity between friends, and the stability of friendships over time. Each of these features and its potential effect on the…

Assessed friendships among Head Start preschoolers. Found that older children were more likely than younger children to participate in a reciprocated friendship, and reciprocated dyads were more likely to be same-gender than were nonreciprocated dyads. Reciprocated friends interacted more frequently and looked at each other more than…

Followed 8-year olds' friendship dyads through school year to determine if they remained friends, and compared their interaction in structured potential conflict with nonfriend dyads. Found that friends made more proposals than nonfriends to negotiate object sharing, spent more time negotiating, compromised more, and showed more competitive…

Identified social schema by correlating memories of problematic encounters with self-esteem for 84 adolescents and adults. Found that adolescent self-esteem is localized in relationships with peers rather than parents and is based on different relational schema for females compared with males, suggesting need for preventive interventions to…

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…

Examines the extent to which the changes in friendship during a school year influence children's impressions of their friendships and their preference for sharing over competition with friends. Also studied the differences between friendships in middle childhood and early adolescence, using multiple methods and measures. (HOD)

Establishes a criterion for and assesses the incidence of friendship among preschoolers. Factors affecting the formation of close association and the consistency of children's interactions with friends and nonfriends were also analyzed. (Author/AS)

Investigates whether third- and fourth-grade children respond differently to conflict with friends and acquaintances. Results support the view that conflict between friends promotes more social development than conflict between nonfriends. Discussion among friends disagreeing on answers to social problems resulted in more mature solutions than…