The Effects of Separation from a Friend on the Social Behaviors of Preschool Children

Negotiating behaviors in same- and mixed-age dyads of preschool children

“…they are products of bonds, however temporary or superficial, between parties involved in social exchanges (Piaget, 1932;Sullivan, 1953;Youniss, 1980). Such a focus on relationships is concordant with an emerging position that social interaction is best conceptualized as occurring in a dynamic interpersonal field, rather than simply between discrete individuals who respond to one another as they would to psychophysical stimulation (e.g., Gottman & Parkhurst, Note 7;Gottman & Ringland, 1981;Hartup & Lempers, 1973;Jacklin & Maccoby, 1978;Strayer & Strayer, 1976;Tuveson & Stockdale, 1981;Youniss, 1980).…”

“…Although not noted by Smith and Robinson, subjects appeared to direct less of their behaviors toward objects and more toward one another across time. Such an interpretation was supported by the results of another study of group formation among young children (Scholtz & Ellis, 1975) in which the attractiveness of a novel piece of gross motor equipment decreased across time and the appeal of peers as playmates increased across a 3-day period (see also Tuveson & Stockdale, 1981). Thus, an accounting of situational factors other than group composition (e.g., novelty of play materials) was lacking in Smith and Robinson's study.…”

“…Investigations that explicitly examine the processes that children use to resolve conflicts are scarce and those that do exist manipulated as possible influences either age or sex, but not both. Although there is some speculation (Hartup, 1978) and indirect evidence (Galejs, 1974;Goldman, 1981;Tuveson & Stockdale, 1981) that sex may be more important than age in ordering social exchanges among young children, the issue of the joint effect of age and sex on both general social interaction and on negotiating behaviors remains largely unexplored. Knowledge of this effect would add increased sophistication to the body of scientific knowledge about children's peer relationships.…”

“…Thus, an attempt was made to surmount the theoretical deficiencies of extant studies. In part reflecting that theoretical state of the art, and despite strong evidence to the contrary (e.g., Galejs, 1974;Hartup & Lempers, 1973;Jacklin & Maccoby, 1978;Langlois et al, 1973Langlois et al, , 1978Tuveson & Stockdale, 1981), the evidence was based on studies that employed the individual, rather than the dyad or larger group, as the basic unit of analysis. The current investigation, in contrast, will analyze behaviors at the dyadic level.…”

“…In the present study, same-age subjects, on average, differed in chronological age by Ih months. In addition, across a range of studies, the mixed-age condition has been operationalized by chronological age differences spanning from 7 to 24 months (Goldman, 1981;Langlois et al, 1978;Lougee et al, 1977;Tuveson & Stockdale, 1981 (Youniss, 1980) and emerged during the course of the present investigation. A profile of general social interaction behavior operationalized the concept of social interaction and originated as a previously published method appropriate for use with preschool-age children (Bales, 1950).…”