Social referencing at ten months: a second-order effect on infants' responses to strangers

1 pathway through which second-order effects may proceed is social referencing, a process in which the individual utilizes another's interpretation when appraising a situation. This phenomenon is well identified in adults and older children. There are indications that the necessary cognitive and social skills for social referencing may emerge in the second half of the first year. 87 10-month-old boys and girls received positive or neutral nonverbal messages, or no message, about a stranger either directly from the mother when she spoke to the infant, or indirectly when the infant observed her speaking to the stranger. Infants were friendlier to the stranger when the mothers had spoken positively rather than neutrally, but only when the message had been provided directly to the infants. This effect was especially strong for infants of easy temperament classification. These results are discussed with regard to the process of social referencing and alternative explanations as well.