Peer Interactions, Relationships, and Groups

PEER INTERACTION AND RELATIONSHIPS—AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW 573 Early North American Research 573 Post-World War II 574 INTERACTIONS, RELATIONSHIPS, AND GROUPS: ORDERS OF COMPLEXITY IN CHILDREN’S PEER EXPERIENCES 575 Interactions 576 Relationships 577 Groups 578 Culture 579 Summary 580 THEORIES RELEVANT TO THE STUDY OF CHILDREN’S PEER INTERACTIONS, RELATIONSHIPS, AND GROUPS 581 Personality Theorists 581 Cognitive Developmental Perspectives 582 Learning and Social Learning Theories, Peer Interaction, and Peer Relationships 584 Human Ethology 584 Group Socialization Theory 585 PEER INTERACTIONS, RELATIONSHIPS, AND GROUPS: A DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE 586 Infancy and the Toddler Years 586 Early Childhood 589 Middle Childhood and Early Adolescence 592 Adolescence 599 Conclusion 602 SOCIAL BEHAVIORS, INTERACTIONS, RELATIONSHIPS, AND GROUPS: ASSESSMENT ISSUES 602 Children’s Behaviors and Interactions with Peers 603 Children’s Relationships with Friends 605 Children’s Peer Acceptance 607 Assessments of the Peer Group 607 THE PROXIMAL CORRELATES OF CHILDREN’S PEER RELATIONSHIPS 608 Proximal Correlates—Peer Acceptance 609 Variations in the Behavioral Correlates of Popularity: Sex, Group, and Cultural Differences 611 Social Cognitive Correlates of Peer Acceptance and Rejection 612 Self-System Correlates of Peer Acceptance and Rejection 615 Children’s Friendships: Correlates and Individual Differences 615 DISTAL PREDICTORS OF CHILDREN’S SOCIAL SKILLS AND PEER RELATIONSHIPS 617 Temperament, Social Behaviors, and Peer Relationships 617 Parent-Child Attachment Relationships, Social Behaviors, and Peer Relationships 619 Parenting and Children’s Social Behaviors and Peer Relationships 621 CHILDHOOD PEER EXPERIENCES AND LATER ADJUSTMENT 625 Academic Adjustment 625 Psychological Adjustment 627 CONCLUSIONS 629 Three Critical Challenges 630 Three Questions in Search of Answers 631 REFERENCES 631