Social Development

Using a social constructionist perspective, we investigated the flexibility of early adolescents' (N = 80, 40 boys, 40 girls; M age = 13.14; SD = .65) masculinity and femininity as a function of the interpersonal context (same‐ or other‐sex partner) and situational demands (co‐operation or competition). Participants played a block‐building game with a girl and a boy peer and were instructed either to play the game co‐operatively or competitively. Boys' and girls' femininity scores were greater when working with a girl peer rather than a boy peer. Stereotypical gender differences in masculinity were most apparent when instructions emphasized co‐operation. These findings provide empirical support for a social constructionist theory of gender development by demonstrating how the proximal situation changes adolescents' views of gendered aspects of their identity. A conceptualization of masculinity and femininity as flexible states is discussed as supplementing the idea that masculinity and femininity are enduring personality traits. Implications of the study for understanding how social situations maximize or minimize gender differences and similarities are discussed.

This study tested claims that gender differences in intimacy are attributable to gender‐differentiated experiences in the peer culture (i.e., male and female ‘worlds’). Participants were 188 Canadian preadolescents (10–12 years, 106 girls) who completed questionnaires regarding the intimacy of their same‐sex best friendship, intimate support received from peers, and two dimensions of culture–gender composition of the friendship network and participation in communal (i.e., intimacy‐promoting) and agentic (intimacy‐repressing) activities. Consistent with the ‘two worlds’ explanation (a) communal activity participation related positively and team sports negatively to same‐sex friendship intimacy, but the latter only for boys, and (b) having other‐sex friends predicted same‐sex friendship intimacy for boys but not girls. The two worlds explanation, though supported, requires revision to accommodate findings that male and female preadolescents’ activity participation overlapped considerably, intimate friendships were not limited to intimate contexts, agentic activities potentiated both agentic and communal goals, and peer cultural variables predicted intimacy better for boys than girls.

Các nghiên cứu gần đây về mối quan hệ giữa nuôi dưỡng con cái và phát triển tâm lý của trẻ đã tập trung vào khả năng của phụ huynh trong việc xem trẻ như một tác nhân tâm lý. Nhiều khái niệm đã được phát triển để chỉ ra khả năng này, ví dụ như "mind‐mindedness" của bà mẹ, chức năng phản ánh và khả năng "mentalizing" của phụ huynh. Trong bài tổng quan này, chúng tôi so sánh và đối chiếu các khái niệm khác nhau từ các nền tảng lý thuyết đa dạng đã được phát triển để thực hiện hóa khả năng "mentalizing" của phụ huynh. Chúng tôi xem xét các bằng chứng thực nghiệm hiện có để ủng hộ từng khái niệm và xem lại các phương pháp đo lường liên quan đến từng khái niệm. Tiếp theo, chúng tôi thảo luận về khả năng các khái niệm đa dạng này có thể khai thác cùng một hệ thống thần kinh xã hội nhận thức cơ bản. Cuối cùng, chúng tôi đề xuất một mô hình có thể kiểm chứng để mô tả các liên kết giữa khả năng "mentalizing" của phụ huynh, sự phát triển "mentalizing" ở trẻ, và các vấn đề tâm lý học về hành vi ở trẻ em.

If young children approached word learning with little social savvy, certain predictable patterns of error would arise in the way they interpret new words. The absence of such errors provides evidence that social understanding informs word learning even in the infancy period. We outline such evidence, and then scrutinize it with respect to four challenges. 1) Is it necessary to invoke genuine social understanding to explain infants’ word‐learning successes? 2) Do infants treat social clues as criterial in their interpretation of new words? 3) Individuals suffering clear deficits in social understanding sometimes display apparently intact vocabulary acquisition: Must we then conclude that word learning can proceed without the aid of social understanding? 4) Is processing of social clues too effortful to be generally useful for everyday word learning? The first challenge is answered by the available evidence: Infants indeed capitalize on social understanding to interpret new words. Although the remaining challenges have yet to be resolved, we offer speculations that might profitably guide future investigation.

Each day for five days, 79 fifth‐grade children reported on events that occurred at school and they and their parents described their interactions with each other each evening. Consistent with previous research, it was found that on days when children reported more academic or peer problems during the day at school, they later described more aversive interactions with their parents. As hypothesized, increases in anxiety and drops in children's state self‐esteem partially mediated this link. However, parents did not report any differences in their interactions with the target child on days when the child experienced problems at school. This study suggests that negative events experienced by children while at school lead to short‐term changes in mood and self‐esteem, which influence their perceptions of subsequent interactions at home with parents.

Trait emotional intelligence (‘trait EI’ or ‘trait emotional self‐efficacy’) is a constellation of emotion‐related self‐perceptions and dispositions comprising the affective aspects of personality. The present study investigated the role of trait EI in children's peer relations at school. One hundred and sixty pupils (83 girls; mean age = 10.8 years) were administered the trait emotional intelligence questionnaire and were subsequently asked to nominate all classmates who fitted each of seven distinct behavioural descriptions (‘co‐operative’, ‘disruptive’, ‘shy’, ‘aggressive’, ‘dependent’, ‘leader’ and ‘intimidating’). The teachers were also asked to nominate all pupils who fitted the seven descriptions. Pupils with high trait EI scores received more nominations for ‘co‐operation’ and ‘leadership’ and fewer nominations for ‘disruption’, ‘aggression’ and ‘dependence’. Factor analysis of teacher nominations revealed two orthogonal factors encompassing pro social and antisocial descriptions, respectively. High trait EI pupils scored higher on the pro social factor and lower on the antisocial factor. The discussion focuses on the construct validity of trait EI and its implications for children's peer relations at school.

The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive review of the recent efforts by psychologists to explore intergenerational continuities and their influences on children’s social development. A primary criterion for inclusion in the review was use of three generations of subjects represented in the research, although two generation studies were included to supplement or expand upon the conclusions drawn from three generation studies. The following domains of research were reviewed: (1) literature regarding the repetition of child abuse across generations, (2) research examining the intergenerational continuity of attachment status, (3) investigations of the continuity of parenting and childrearing behavior parents experienced with their own parents, (4) research examining intergenerational continuities in parenting involving non‐human primates, and (5) investigations of intergenerational continuities in both peer and sibling relationships. Across all literatures reviewed, evidence was found for intergenerational continuity with gender of parent affecting results. Two primary mechanisms for transmission appear to be cognitive schemas of relationships and modeling. A paradigm is proposed describing possible means of intergenerational transmission of influence on the social development of children.

We investigated language development, relational aggression, and relational victimization in ethnically, socioeconomically diverse preschoolers. Relational aggression was positively related to language development. Girls were more relationally aggressive than boys, and higher‐socioeconomic status (SES) children were more relationally aggressive and victimized than lower‐SES children. Neither gender nor SES conclusively moderated the relation between language and relational aggression, though some findings suggest the possibility of stronger relations among boys and lower‐SES children. Teachers agreed on ratings of relational aggression and relational victimization to a moderate extent.

This study had three goals: (a) To investigate gender differences in relational aggression and victimization within young adults' romantic relationships, (b) to investigate associations between romantic relational aggression and victimization and perceptions of romantic relationship quality, and (c) to explore parent and peer predictors of romantic relational aggression and victimization. College students (70 females and 34 males) completed self‐reports of romantic relational aggression and victimization, and parent, peer, and romantic relationship quality. Men and women reported equal levels of romantic relational aggression, and men reported higher levels of victimization than women. Aggression and victimization were positively correlated with negative romantic relationship qualities and negatively correlated with positive relationship qualities. Regression analyses indicated that both romantic relational victimization and romantic relational aggression explained variance in romantic relationship quality. There were several significant associations between parent and peer relationship quality and romantic relational aggression and victimization, which suggest that poor relationships with parents and peers may play a role in the development and maintenance of these behaviors.

Children's social constructions of popularity were assessed with perceived popularity nominations (i.e., ‘Who are the most [least] popular students?’) in a sample of 487 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade elementary school students. Correlational and group‐difference analyses demonstrated that perceived popularity is moderately and positively related to sociometric popularity and social dominance. Perceived popular girls were viewed as prosocial, bright, and in possession of the expressive equipment of popularity (i.e., attractiveness and spending power); perceived popular girls who were not well‐liked (i.e., sociometrically popular) had these characteristics as well but also were above‐average (>.5 SD) on social aggression and social visibility (i.e., cool and athletic). Perceived popular boys were reported to be socially visible (i.e., cool and athletic) and with low levels of social withdrawal; perceived popular boys who were not well‐liked had these characteristics but also were reported to be socially aggressive, attractive, and to possess spending power. Finally, group comparisons revealed that perceived popularity, either alone or in combination with sociometric popularity, is accompanied by more social prerogatives (i.e., admiration, leadership, social control) than sociometric popularity alone. It was argued that being perceived as popular is a key determinant of social power in peer groups of older elementary school students.