Role of Fault Attributions and Desire, Effort, and Outcome Expectations in Children's Anticipated Responses to Hypothetical Peers With Various Undesirable Characteristics

Abstract

Role of fault attributions and desire/effort/outcome expectations in children's anticipated responses to hypothetical peers with various undesirable characteristics.

Role of Various Fault Attributions and Other Factors in Children's Anticipated Response to Hypothetical Peers With Undesirable Characteristics

“…In prior investigations (e.g., Barnett et al., ; Sonnentag et al., ), children's attribution of fault has often been assessed using a single, general statement (e.g., ‘It is this boy's fault that he is _______’). Although general attributions of fault are associated with children's anticipated responses to peers with various undesirable characteristics (see also Sigelman & Begley, ), several studies suggest that children's fault attributions may involve a more complex understanding that peers can be responsible for the origin (i.e., onset) and/or the continuation (i.e., perpetuation) of a personal problem (e.g., Bennett & Flores, ; Brickman et al., ; Karasawa, ).…”

“…These two targets were selected for consideration by participants in study 1 for three reasons. Firstly, children have rated aggressive peers and overweight peers as more ‘generally at fault’ for their undesirable characteristic than peers with other common undesirable characteristics (Barnett et al., ; Sonnentag et al., ). Secondly, children have anticipated responding less favorably to aggressive peers and overweight peers than peers with other common undesirable characteristics (Barnett et al., ; Sonnentag et al., ).…”

“…However, relatively little is known about the factors that may be associated with children's rejection or acceptance of such peers. In a recent series of studies (Barnett, Livengood, Sonnentag, Barlett, & Witham, ; Barnett, Sonnentag, Livengood, Struble, & Wadian, ; Sonnentag, Barlett, Livengood, Barnett, & Witham, ), several factors have been identified as correlates of children's anticipated response to hypothetical peers with various undesirable characteristics: being extremely aggressive, extremely overweight, extremely shy, a poor student, a poor athlete, or displaying the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) . For example, the more children have attributed fault to a peer for his or her undesirable characteristic, the less favorably the children have anticipated responding to that peer (Barnett et al., ; Sonnentag et al., ).…”

“…In a recent series of studies (Barnett, Livengood, Sonnentag, Barlett, & Witham, ; Barnett, Sonnentag, Livengood, Struble, & Wadian, ; Sonnentag, Barlett, Livengood, Barnett, & Witham, ), several factors have been identified as correlates of children's anticipated response to hypothetical peers with various undesirable characteristics: being extremely aggressive, extremely overweight, extremely shy, a poor student, a poor athlete, or displaying the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) . For example, the more children have attributed fault to a peer for his or her undesirable characteristic, the less favorably the children have anticipated responding to that peer (Barnett et al., ; Sonnentag et al., ). Although a peer's self‐reported desire to change, effort to change, and success in changing an undesirable characteristic have all been found to have a positive impact on children's acceptance of that peer (Barnett et al., ), the extent to which children attribute fault to a peer for an undesirable characteristic appears to play a larger role in their anticipated response to that peer than their expectations concerning the peer's desire to change, effort to change, and outcome (Barnett et al., ).…”

“…For example, the more children have attributed fault to a peer for his or her undesirable characteristic, the less favorably the children have anticipated responding to that peer (Barnett et al., ; Sonnentag et al., ). Although a peer's self‐reported desire to change, effort to change, and success in changing an undesirable characteristic have all been found to have a positive impact on children's acceptance of that peer (Barnett et al., ), the extent to which children attribute fault to a peer for an undesirable characteristic appears to play a larger role in their anticipated response to that peer than their expectations concerning the peer's desire to change, effort to change, and outcome (Barnett et al., ). In addition, children who perceived that they or a friend are similar to a hypothetical peer with a specific undesirable characteristic tended to agree more strongly with the statement that they would like that peer than children who did not perceive themselves or a friend as similar to that peer (Sonnentag et al., ).…”