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Preschoolers' sharing expectations towards friends relate to their kindergarten peer status

Samuel Essler1, Monika Wörle1, Chris Moore2

  • 1Developmental Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany.

The British Journal of Developmental Psychology
|September 27, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Children

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Social Development
  • Child Psychology

Background:

  • Prosocial behavior positively correlates with peer status in children.
  • Problematic behavior negatively impacts peer status.
  • Sharing behavior and expectations become more nuanced with age during preschool years.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the relationship between preschoolers' sharing behavior and expectations (towards friends and non-friends) and their peer status.
  • To determine if sharing expectations predict peer status independently of problematic behavior.

Main Methods:

  • 118 preschoolers (3-7 years) participated in resource distribution tasks involving friends and non-friends.
  • Children predicted resource distribution scenarios.
  • Teacher ratings of problematic behavior and peer ratings of peer status were collected.

Main Results:

  • Preschoolers' sharing expectations towards friends, not their sharing behavior, predicted peer status.
  • This predictive relationship remained significant even after accounting for problematic behavior.
  • Age was not a significant independent predictor of peer status in this context.

Conclusions:

  • Knowledge of prosociality, specifically sharing expectations, is crucial for adaptive social development.
  • Understanding social dynamics, like selective sharing, influences a child's social standing.
  • Sharing expectations are a key factor in children's peer relationships and social success.

Keywords:
preschool childrenproblematic behaviourprosocial behavioursharingsocial status

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