Dominance among unfamiliar peers starts in infancy

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Social Behavior
• Child Development

Background:

• Traditional dominance concepts focused on conflict, but modern views emphasize resource control in social dyads.
• Previous studies on resource control were limited to small groups of familiar children, often younger than 3 years.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate resource control asymmetry in unfamiliar 19-month-old peers interacting over a desirable toy.
• To determine factors influencing this asymmetry in early childhood social dynamics.

Main Methods:

• Observation of 201 dyads of unfamiliar 19-month-olds in repeated competitive toy-sharing sessions.
• Systematic recording of resource control and behavioral asymmetry.
• Parental ratings of child anxiety, physical aggression, and birth-related information collected.

Main Results:

• High and consistent asymmetry in resource control was observed between unfamiliar peers.
• Asymmetry was not significantly affected by gender, age, coercive behaviors, physical aggression, birth order, or day-care attendance.
• Early body size (at birth) and parental-rated anxiety were significant predictors of resource control asymmetry.

Conclusions:

• Resource control asymmetry is a prominent feature of early peer interactions, even among unfamiliar children.
• Factors beyond immediate social interactions, such as birth size and temperament (anxiety), play a role in establishing early dominance hierarchies.