Related Experiment Videos
[Effects of intimacy and familiarity on self-assertive strategy in interpersonal conflicts among preschool children]
1Department of Child Psychology, Faculty of Education, Hiroshima University.
Insights
Preschool children use more self-assertive strategies with familiar peers. Peer intimacy and familiarity significantly influence children's assertive behavior choices when provoked.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Social Cognition
- Childhood Social Behavior
Background:
- Understanding how interpersonal relationships influence children's social strategies is crucial for development.
- Preschoolers' social-cognitive abilities and self-regulation are shaped by peer interactions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of peer intimacy and familiarity on preschoolers' use of self-assertive strategies.
- To explore how variations in peer relationships affect children's behavioral responses to provocation.
Main Methods:
- Survey administered to 134 preschool children (5-6 years old) assessing responses to peer provocation.
- Systematic variation of peer intimacy and familiarity in hypothetical scenarios.
- Analysis of chosen self-assertive strategies based on peer relationship variables.
Main Results:
- Children employed self-assertive strategies more often with high-intimacy/high-familiarity peers compared to high-intimacy/low-familiarity peers.
- Low-intimacy/low-familiarity peer interactions led to more frequent self-assertive strategies than low-intimacy/high-familiarity interactions.
- The choice of self-assertive strategy was contingent upon the specific levels of peer intimacy and familiarity.
Conclusions:
- Peer relationship dynamics, specifically intimacy and familiarity, significantly modulate preschoolers' self-assertive responses.
- Findings highlight the importance of social context in the development of children's social cognitive ability and self-regulation.
- Interpersonal factors play a key role in shaping children's assertive social strategies.
Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of interpersonal relations on self-assertive strategy. One hundred and thirty-four preschool children, 70 boys and 64 girls between five and six years old, were asked a set of questions concerning how they would feel and behave when a peer provoked them. The peer intimacy and familiarity were systematically varied, and the main results were as follows: High-intimacy/high-familiarity group chose self-assertive strategies more frequently than High-intimacy/low-familiarity group, and Low-intimacy/low-familiarity group chose self-assertive strategies more often than Low-intimacy/high-familiarity group. It was also found that the self-assertive strategy they would choose depend on the intimacy and familiarity of the peer. Implications of the findings for social cognitive ability and self-regulation of preschool children were discussed.