Second-, fourth-, sixth-, and eighth-grade children's perceptions of the social support provided by friends were assessed. During individual interviews, the children were asked about the frequency of emotional support or intimate self-disclosure, tangible support or prosocial behavior, and other types of support provided by a particular friend. They were also asked about the frequency of conflicts with the friend and the frequency of supportive interactions and conflicts with a classmate who was only an acquaintance. Factor analyses revealed an increase with grade in the differentation between the support and conflict dimensions of friendship and acquaintanceship. At all grades, children perceived friends as more supportive than acquaintances, but explanations for the lack of support from acquaintances changed with grade. Sixth graders often gave personal attributions (for example, saying that the acquaintances were selfish or hostile). Eighth graders favored more situational attributions (for example, saying that they had few supportive interactions with acquaintances because they rarely came in contact with them). The potential value of perceived-support measures in research on the consequences of friendship is discussed. This research was supported in part by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (1R01-MH38093) and the William T. Grant Foundation (83-0854-82). We thank Jill Devenport and Andrea Guillory for their assistance in collecting the data, and Joseph McGahan and Royanne Nilson for their assistance in coding children's responses to the open-ended questions.
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The purpose of this research was to examine the existence of multidimensionality in delay of gratification for Black university student leaders. We investigated delay preference as it related to academic decisions, career choices, sociopolitical issues, and consumer preferences. Results supported such multidimensionality by yielding evidence for the heretofore unexamined sociopolitical dimension as well as an achievement-oriented delay dimension in this sample of Black students. Gender differences are also reported. Results indicated that similar factor structures emerged for both sexes. The importance of this approach to the study of delay is discussed as well as directions for future research.
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