Hostile attributions and behavioral strategies in children: does relationship type matter?

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that children's hostile attributions and behavioral strategies in response to peer provocation and rebuff situations will depend on the relationship with the target peer (i.e., friend, enemy, neutral). The sample consisted of 144 fourth graders (75 boys and 69 girls; mean age=10.47 years, SD=0.55 years). The participants were randomly selected from a pool of 442 children who completed a measure of social adjustment in Grade 3. In Grade 4, children participated in the individual interviews in which they were verbally presented with 6 hypothetical situations. The target peers were identified on the basis of the relationship descriptions. The results clearly demonstrate that children do indeed differentiate between relationship types in regard to hostile attributions and hostile strategies, with more hostility attributed and more hostile responses proposed toward enemies than toward other peers (ps<.05). In addition, this relationship effect holds even when the social and behavioral reputation of the target peers is accounted for (ps<.05).