Conflict and Its Resolution in Small Groups of One- and Two-Year-Olds

Abstract

48 1- and 48 2-year-olds were observed in groups of 3 for 25 min on 2 consecutive days, once with ample resources and once with scarce resources. The triads were composed of either 2 girls and a boy or 2 boys and a girl, and duplicate copies of toys were available for half the groups. Their conflicts contained interpersonal features and were more affected by social influences than by the availability of resources. Contrary to expectations, scarcity of resources did not result in increased conflict. In fact, 2-year-olds were more likely to resolve conflict by sharing when toys were scarce. The provision of duplicates decreased the probability of conflict, but many conflicts occurred even when a duplicate was easily accessible. The form of conflict depended on the children's age and the gender composition of the group. Older children and groups dominated by boys, relative to younger children and groups dominated by girls, were less likely to use force and more likely to resolve disputes in prosocial ways. Taken together, these findings provide further evidence for the social nature of conflict in the first few years of life.

The gradual emergence of sex differences in aggression: alternative hypotheses

“…Hypothesis 1 : Girls are never very aggressive The strong claim that girls never develop the ability to be aggressive can be rejected in view of the fact that, when infants first begin to use force against their companions, girls and boys bite, hit and push their peers (Eckerman et al 1975 ;Bakeman & Brownlee, 1982 ;Hay & Ross, 1982 ;Caplan et al 1991;Hay et al 2000, unpublished observations ;Alink et al 2006). In observational studies of infants and toddlers, there are few striking differences in the use of force by girls and boys.…”

Conflitos e Agressões entre Bebês e Diferentes Atributos de Brinquedos: Um Estudo Experimental

“…Esse tipo de conflito tem sido descrito como preponderante em crianças dessa idade e ainda mais novas (Caplan et al, 1991). Segundo Hay e Ross (1982) os conflitos entre bebês nessa idade estão relacionados tanto com o aumento do interesse pelo outro, quanto com o aumento do interesse pelos objetos, o que propicia o surgimento de conflitos.…”

Social Relations in Infancy: Origins and Evidence

“…However, there is relatively little evidence bearing on this point. In two studies of 2-year-old children with unfamiliar peers, approximately 80% of interactions were triadic [Caplan, Vespo, Pedersen, & Hay, 1991;Ishikawa, 2002]. Studies of emerging dominance relationships in toddler groups also document social relations that extend beyond the dyad [Bakeman & Brownlee, 1982].…”

“…These included statistical techniques such as intraclass correlations, which demonstrated the unique features of particular dyadic peer relationships [Hay, Nash, & Pedersen, 1983], and information analysis and conditional probabilities, which demonstrated the impact of one infant's distress on another's reaction that could not be explained by chance alone [Hay, Nash, & Pedersen, 1981]. Furthermore, we and our colleagues have tried to explore infants' experience of social interactions that have distinct meaning to adults: con- [Hay & Ross, 1982;Caplan, et al, 1991;Vespo, Hay, & Pedersen, 1995;Nash, 1996], sharing [Rheingold, Hay, & West, 1976;Hay, Caplan, Castle, & Stimson, 1991;Hay, et al, 1999], and cooperative social games [Ross & Lollis, 1987;Hay, 1979].…”