Willard W. Hartup

Friendships and adaptation in the life course

To consider friendships and their significance through the life course requires, first, differentiation of deep structure (i.e., reciprocity) from surface structure (i.e., the social exchange) and, second, assessment within a multifaceted framework that simultaneously emphasizes having friends, the identity of ones friends, and relationship quality. Having friends is correlated with a sense of well being across the life span, but developmental outcome also depends on the identity of ones friends as well as the quality of ones relationships with them. Greater attention needs to be given to the manner in which friendships differ from one another, continuities and changes across major developmental transitions, and differentiation of developmental pathways through which friendship experience contributes to individual outcome.

Conflict in child and adolescent development

Preface List of contributors Conflict and development: an introduction Carolyn U. Shantz and Willard W. Hartup Part I. Conflict and the Processes of Development: 1. Theoretical perspectives on conflict and development Jaan Valsiner and Robert B. Cairns 2. The education of reason: cognitive conflict and its role in intellectual development Michael Chapman and Michelle L. McBride 3. Conflict and the development of social understanding Judy Dunn and Cheryl Slomkowski 4. Conflict talk: approaches to adversative discourse Catherine Garvey and Carolyn U. Shantz 5. Conflict and emotions in marital, sibling, and peer relationships Lynn Fainsilber Katz, Laurie Kramer and John M. Gottman Part II. Conflict and Interpersonal Relationships: 6. The social structure of early conflict: interaction, relationships, and alliances Hildy S. Ross and Cheryl L. Conant 7. Conflict and friendship relations Willard W. Hartup 8. Conflict and relationships during adolescence W. Andrew Collins and Brett Laursen 9. Conflicts between siblings Deborah Lowe Vandell and Mark Dixon Bailey 10. Family conflicts and their developmental implications: a conceptual analysis of meanings for the structure of relationships Robert E. Emery Part III. Conflict and Developmental Adaptations: 11. Conflict and the development of antisocial behavior David G. Perry, Louise C. Perry and Elizabeth Kennedy 12. Conflict management and social competence Martha Putallaz and Blair H. Sheppard 13. Conflict and group relations Frances E. Aboud 14. Conflict and child maltreatment Patricia Minuchin 15. Intervention programs for the management of conflict Wyndol Furman and Elizabeth L. McQuaid Author index Subject index.

Peer Experience: Common and Unique Features of Number of Friendships, Social Network Centrality, and Sociometric Status

Three conceptually distinct dimensions of classroom social position (number of mutual friendships, social network centrality, and sociometric status) were examined in relation to each other and to peer-nominated behavioral reputation among 205 7- and 8-year old children. There were moderate correlations in children’s standing across the three dimensions, but categorical analyses underscored the limits to these associations (e.g., 39% of Rejected children had at least one mutual friendship; 31% of Popular children did not). Each dimension was associated with a distinct profile of peer-nominated social behavior and, in multiple regression analyses, accounted for unique variance in peer-nominated behaviors. Number of friendships was uniquely associated with prosocial skills; network centrality was uniquely associated with both prosocial and antisocial behavioral styles; and being disliked was uniquely associated with the full range of social behaviors. Results provide empirical validation for the conceptual distinctions among number of reciprocated friendships, social network centrality and being liked or disliked.

Friendships and Adaptation Across the Life Span

Friends foster self-esteem and a sense of well-being, socialize one another, and support one another in coping with developmental transitions and life stress. Friends engage in different activities with one another across the life span, but friendship is conceived similarly by children and adults. Friends and friendships, however, are not all alike. The developmental significance of having friends depends on the characteristics of the friends, especially whether the friends are antisocial or socially withdrawn. Outcomes also depend on whether friendships are supportive and intimate or fractious and unstable. Among both children and adults, friendships have clear-cut developmental benefits at times but are mixed blessings at other times.

Rehabilitation of Socially Withdrawn Preschool Children through Mixed-Age and Same-Age Socialization.

24 socially withdrawn preschool children were located through classroom observations and assigned to 3 conditions: (a) socialization with a younger child during 10 play sessions, (b) socialization with an age mate during a similar series of sessions, and (c) no treatment. The socialization sessions, particularly those with a younger partner, were found to increase the sociability of the withdrawn children in their classrooms. Significant increases occurred mainly in the rate with which positive social reinforcement was emitted. Generally, the results support a leadership deficit theory of social isolation. Possible mechanisms responsible for the observed changes are discussed.

Peer Relations in Early and Middle Childhood

Child-child interaction is essentially egalitarian. Some relationships between children are more egalitarian than others, but peer relations are generally understood by children to be structured horizontally rather than vertically. The egalitarian nature of the social exchanges that occur between children and other children distinguish them clearly from the exchanges that occur between children and adults (Furman & Buhmester, 1985; Youniss, 1980).

Early peer relations: Developmental significance and prognostic implications☆

The developmental and prognostic implications of early peer relations are considered. Evidence concerning peer difficulties as risk factors is reviewed along with research dealing with family relations and peer relations in social development. A conjunctive model is advanced to account for the manner in which troubled family relations are followed by troubled peer relations, problems with self-regard, narrowed alternatives in choosing friends, and manifestations of social deviance. The origins of these conjunctive cycles appear to exist in early childhood, hence requiring attention in program implementation and management for young children.

Mutual Antipathies and Their Significance in Middle Childhood and Adolescence

Mutual antipathies (when two children or adolescents dislike one another) were studied among 2,348 school-age children and 2,768 adolescents to determine incidence, gender and age differences, and implications for social adjustment. The children were more frequently involved than were the adolescents in same-sex antipathies but not mixed-sex ones. Boys were involved more frequently than were girls in same-sex antipathies, but involvement in mixed-sex antipathies was comparable for the two genders. With peer rejection scores used as a covariate, same-sex antipathies were associated with antisocial behavior and social withdrawal among children and adolescents of both genders and, in addition, to emotionality and lack of friendship support among adolescents. Mixed-sex antipathies were related to social adjustment depending on gender: these antipathies were related to antisocial and bullying behavior in boys but not girls; and to nonaggressiveness, victimization, lesser cooperation, shyness, and depression in girls but not boys. Mutual antipathies thus appear to be concomitants of adaptational risk in both childhood and adolescence.

Peer Interaction and the Behavioral Development of the Individual Child

Experience with peers is commonly assumed to make numerous contributions to child development. Such experiences are believed to provide a context for sex-role learning, the internalization of moral values, the socialization of aggression, and the development of cognitive skills. The research literature, however, contains relatively little hard data concerning the functional contributions of peer interaction to the development of the individual child. There is little evidence that the give-and-take occurring during peer interaction actually determines the moral structuring that occurs in middle childhood, as Raget (1932) suggested; there is no direct evidence that rough-and-tumble play contributes to the effectiveness with which the human child copes with aggressive affect (Harlow, 1969); and the contributions of peer attachments to social and intellectual development are largely unspecified.

Heterogeneity among Peer-Rejected Boys across Middle Childhood: Developmental Pathways of Social Behavior.

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to identify subgroups of rejected boys with different developmental pathways of aggression and prosocial behavior across the elementary school years. Peer, teacher, and parent reports and behavior observations yielded composite scores for aggression and prosocial behavior at 3 measurement waves. A cluster analysis with these composites on 87 initially rejected boys identified 4 subgroups with different developmental pathways of prosocial behavior and aggression that were associated with different patterns of sociometric acceptance and rejection over time and with social emotional adjustment in the last measurement wave. Changes in acceptance and rejection tend to precede changes in aggression and prosocial behavior. Cluster differences on social emotional adjustment indicators converged into I moderately discriminating factor, Social Maladaptation in Peer-Oriented Behavior.