Chapter 13 Peer Relationships - CMUrakison/POCDclass21.pdf · Chapter 13 Peer Relationships ... are...
Transcript of Chapter 13 Peer Relationships - CMUrakison/POCDclass21.pdf · Chapter 13 Peer Relationships ... are...
1
Chapter 13
Peer Relationships
• Peers are close in age to one another
• Peers aid in emotional, social, and cognitive
development
• Perspectives on peers: Piaget: can be more open, spontaneous, critical, ask for
clarification, elaborate ideas, and get feedback from peers
Vygotsky: can learn new skills, develop cognitive
capacities and cooperation skills through peer interactions
Others believe that one can gain companionship,
assistance, emotional support, and experience first
intimate, interpersonal relationships with peers
(“chumship”-Harry Stack Sullivan)
Peers
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What Is Special About
Peer Relationships?
Piaget, Vygotsky, and others argued that peer relationships provide a unique context for cognitive, social, and emotional development.
• The equality, reciprocity, cooperation, and intimacy that can develop in peer relationships enhance children's reasoning ability and their concern for others.
Both disagreement and cooperation
within the context of peer
relationships have been emphasized
by theorists as important contributors
to children's cognitive development.
Robin
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• Friends spend time together, feel affection for each
other, and exhibit give-and-take (reciprocities)
Friendship
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Why would friendship evolve?
How did selection shape genes for friendship?
A
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S S S
1. Group with altruists, busily out-
competing all the other groups.
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2. The selfish individuals in the
group are getting the benefit but
paying no cost. In the next
generation selfish have increased
within the group. 3. And now
altruists are
extinct even
though
they’ve
helped the
group.
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The Evolution of Cooperation
and Altruism:
Reciprocal altruism: Benefit-delivering adaptations
can evolve when reciprocated later in time
What is a best friend?
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• The Development of Friendship
Between 12-18 months there are early signs of
interactions and responsiveness (touch, smiles)
Around 20 months, children initiate more interactions
with selected peers
Around age 2, children develop more complex social
interactions with friends than nonfriends (imitation,
cooperation, and problem solving)
Between toddlerhood and preschool, children show more
pretend play, conflict, and nonaggressive conflict
resolution with friends than nonfriends
During the school years there is more communication,
cooperation, conflict resolution, and intimacy
Early school years (ages 6-8): Friendship is defined
by actual activities (playing and sharing);
instrumental and concrete
Middle school years (ages 9-adolescence);
Friendship is defined by mutual liking, closeness,
and loyalty
In adolescence, friendship is defined by intimacy,
disclosure, and feedback
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Early Peer Interactions and
Friendships
By or before age 2
Some researchers have argued that children can have
friends
Many 12- to 18-month-olds
Children seem to select and prefer
some children over others
Starting at around 20 months of age
Children also increasingly initiate more interactions
with some children than with others
By age 2
Children begin to develop skills that
allow greater complexity in their social interactions
By age 3 or 4
Children can make and maintain
friendships with peers
By age 3 to 7
Children can have “best friends” that are stable over at
least several months' time
During the school years there is more communication,
cooperation, conflict resolution, and intimacy
Early school years (ages 6-8): Friendship is defined
by actual activities (playing and sharing);
instrumental and concrete
Middle school years (ages 9-adolescence);
Friendship is defined by mutual liking, closeness,
and loyalty
In adolescence, friendship is defined by intimacy,
disclosure, and feedback
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Dimensions on Which Elementary School
Children Often Evaluate Their Friendships
Dimension Indicators
Validation and Caring
Makes me feel good about my ideas. Tells me I am good at things.
Conflict Resolution
Make up easily when we have a fight. Talk about how to get over being mad.
Conflict and Betrayal
Argue a lot. Doesn’t listen to me.
Help and Guidance
Help each other with schoolwork a lot. Loan each other things all the time.
Companionship and Recreation
Always sit together at lunch. Do fun things together a lot.
Intimate Exchange
Always tell each other our problems. Tell each other secrets.
•Support and Validation
Loneliness, periods of transition (elementary to
junior high), buffer against unpleasant
experiences (being bullied), confidants
•Social and Cognitive Skills
Children learn complex play, peer norms, and
understanding of others’ emotional states
Functions of Friendships
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•Benefit (Note: this research is correlational)
People with a reciprocated best friend in preadolescence
also report doing better in college, family, and in their
social life;
They also had higher self-worth and less psychopathology
than those who did not have a reciprocated best friend in
preadolescence.
The Psychological Costs
and Benefits of Friendship
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•Cost
Children with antisocial and aggressive friends tend to
exhibit those behaviors, too
Adolescents who abuse alcohol and drugs have friends
who do so
The Psychological Costs
and Benefits of Friendship
Sex Differences in Functions of
Friendships
Girls’ friendships are more intimate than boys’ and provide more
validation, caring, and help.
Boys and girls report similar amounts of fighting and meanness to
their friends, but girls resolve their conflicts more easily.
Boys’ and girls’ friendships are similar in that the friendships
involve spending time together, but boys and girls spend time in
different activities.
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• Proximity (important in the early years)
• Age-mates (in industrialized countries)
• Sex (same-sex friendships appear early)
• Race (seems to be the least important)
• Similarity and interest (becomes important around age 7)
Choosing Friends
• Groups begin to emerge early in toddlerhood with
some members showing more dominance than others
in the group
• In middle childhood, cliques form (friendship
groups of 3-9 children) Voluntary forming and joining
Not everyone is a close friend
Members are bonded by similarities (academics,
aggression, shyness, attractiveness, popularity, values)
Groups are not stable and turnover is high
The central figures tend to be popular, cooperative,
studious and some are “cool” or “tough”
Children join for a sense of belonging
Groups
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•Between ages 11–18: A person may be a member of many cliques
The cliques become more stable
During early-mid adolescence focus on dress &
behavior
During late adolescence the focus is more on
individual relations and becoming autonomous
•Between ages 11–18: A person may be a member of many cliques
The cliques become more stable
During early-mid adolescence focus on dress &
behavior
During late adolescence the focus is more on
individual relations and becoming autonomous
During late adolescence crowds form:
Groups with a similar stereotyped
reputation, such as the “jocks” and the
“nerds”
Adolescents do not necessarily choose what
crowd they are in; peer assigned
Negative peer group influences (gangs)
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Boys and Girls in Cliques and
Crowds Gender differences
• Adolescent girls tend to be more integrated into cliques.
• Adolescent boys have a greater diversity of friends.
Dyadic dating
• Starting in seventh grade, girls and boys tend to associate with
one another more and dyadic dating relationships become
increasingly common.
• By high school, cliques of friends often include adolescents of
both sexes.
Cyberspace and
Child's Peer
Experience Risks
• Cyberbulling
Benefits
• Cyber support
The most common ways U.S. adolescents
contact their friends. (Lenhart et al., 2010)
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Romantic Relationships
Romantic relationships
• In the U.S., 25% of 12-year-olds and 70% of 18-year-olds
report having had a romantic relationship in the past 18
months.
• Between 14 to 18 years, adolescents tend to balance time
they spend with romantic partners and friends.
• By young adulthood, time with romantic partners increases to
the point that it is at the expense of involvement with friends
and crowds.
Romantic
Relationships
Selection criteria
• Young adolescents tend to
select partners that bring
them status.
• Older adolescents are more
likely to select partners
based on compatibility and
characteristics that enhance
intimacy.
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• Groups status is measured by a sociometric status
measure: how liked or disliked a person is by his or
her peers
Status in the Group
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• Over the short term, popular and rejected ratings
seem to be stable, while neglected or controversial
ratings tend to fluctuate
• Over the long term, ratings fluctuate more for all
categories, except rejected
Status in the Group
• Popular children viewed as helpful, friendly, and
considerate; however, “stuck-up” behavior in mid-
adolescence can change their status
• Overt aggression is more important in rankings
during the early years
• Withdrawn behavior becomes more important in
ranking someone over time
Characteristics and Predictors of Status
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•Academic Performance Rejected children are more at risk for truancy, repeating
grades, lower GPAs, and dropping out of school
Status and Risk
The relation of children’s sociometric status to academic
and behavioral problems
Children’s sociometric status is related to their future problem behaviors.
Rejected children are far more likely to be held back in, or suspended
from, school, to be truants, to drop out, and to have problems with the
police. The occurrence of any of these problems is labeled as
“nonspecific” in this figure. (Adapted from Kupersmidt & Coie, 1990)
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•Adjustment
Rejected children are more at risk for:
Externalizing symptoms: aggression,
delinquency, hyperactivity, attention-deficit
disorders, conduct disorder, and substance abuse
Internalizing symptoms: loneliness, depression,
withdrawn behavior, and obsessive-compulsive
behavior
Status and Risk
Rates of boys’ self-reported externalizing symptoms as a
function of third grade rejection and aggression
Although aggressive-rejected boys did not differ from other boys in reported externalizing
symptoms in sixth grade, by tenth grade, aggressive-rejected boys reported an average of
over twice the number of symptoms as did all other boys. (Adapted from Coie et al., 1995)
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Aggressive-rejected boys’ reports of internalizing problems increased from sixth to tenth
grade, whereas such reports decreased over the same period of time for all other boys.
(Adapted from Coie et al., 1995)
Rates of boys’ self-reported internalizing symptoms as a
function of third-grade rejection and aggression
(Hard to prove causal relationships)
•Attachment
Secure attachment with parent:
Child develops understanding of reciprocity
Child develops positive social expectations
Child is likely to have confidence,
enthusiasm, and be emotionally positive
Parents and Peer Relationships
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(Hard to prove causal relationships)
•Quality of Ongoing Parent-Child Interactions
Child understands feelings, through discussion
about feelings with their mother
The father adds to his child’s peer relationships
through affection and play
Parents and Peer Relationships
•Models, Coaches, and Gatekeepers
Gatekeepers = parents monitor their children’s
activities
Coaches = parents help children learn how to deal
with unfamiliar peers
Models = children observe how to deal with
people and conflicts
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Percentages of children rejected by peers as a function of
gender and family income
As can be seen in these data from a longitudinal study, elementary school children from
families with low incomes are considerably more likely to be rejected than are children
from middleclass families. (Adapted from Patterson, Griesler, Vaden, & Kupersmidt, 1992)