Journal of Research in Childhood
Education, Fall-Winter,
1999
by Leslie C. Phillipsen, Sara K. Bridges, T. Gayle McLemore, Lisa A. Saponaro
by Leslie C. Phillipsen, Sara K. Bridges, T. Gayle McLemore, Lisa A. Saponaro
Abstract. Forty kindergartners participated in a study using social behavior
ratings from observers, teachers, and parents to predict the children's
perceptions of peer acceptance. Gender and race differences in social behaviors
and peer acceptance also were investigated. Perceptions of peer acceptance were
gathered through individual child interviews, sociometric ratings, and teacher
and parent ratings. In regression analyses, friendship skill predicted peer
acceptance as reported by children and parents. Shyness / withdrawal inversely
predicted teacher-reported peer acceptance. Surprisingly, aggression did not
predict peer acceptance in any of the regression analyses. Analyses of group
differences revealed that girls were rated as more prosocial than boys, and
boys were rated as more aggressive than girls. No statistically significant
race differences were found. The findings suggest that teachers and parents
should encourage child-child interaction in order to promote friendship skills
and inhibit shyness / withdrawal.
The peer relations literature is replete with studies showing that
children who demonstrate certain kinds of social behaviors while refraining
from other types of behaviors tend to be liked by their peers. For example,
children who play cooperatively and show leadership abilities usually enjoy
high peer acceptance (Hatzichristou & Hopf, 1996; Ladd, Price, & Hart,
1988). In contrast, children who display high levels of aggressive behavior or
who interact with their peers in argumentative, disruptive, and socially
inappropriate ways are often rejected by their peers (Coie & Dodge, 1988;
Dodge, 1983; Dodge, Coie, Pettit, & Price, 1990; Hatzichristou & Hopf,
1996; Ladd et al., 1988; Lemerise, 1997). Shy and withdrawn behavior, such as
not playing interactively with peers, watching peers play rather than joining
in, and wandering around a classroom or playground, also tends to be associated
with low peer acceptance (Lemerise, 1997).
This study was designed to
isolate the types of social behaviors that predict kindergarten children's peer
acceptance when considering several types of social behavior simultaneously.
The outcome of this question is important to help parents, teachers, and others
who work with young children understand what social skills to specifically
foster and promote in order to enhance children's perceptions of their peer
acceptance. Previous research has discovered developmental differences in the
associations between social behaviors and peer acceptance. Aggression, for
example, is linked with problematic peer relations from early childhood through
adolescence, while socially withdrawn behavior begins to be associated with low
peer acceptance in middle and late childhood (Rubin, Bukowski, & Parker,
1998; Snyder, Horsch, & Childs, 1997).
Researchers have frequently used
sociometric techniques, such as peer nominations or ratings, to measure peer
acceptance. While sociometry is a solid, objective measure of children's
standing within the peer group, it provides only one perspective of children's
peer acceptance. How children themselves feel about their peer acceptance is
important, because these perceptions may actually guide their behaviors with
peers.
Adult perceptions of children's
confidence in their own peer acceptance also may influence their social
behaviors. Adults who believe children are not confident about their peer
acceptance might provide more opportunities to help these children develop play
and friendship skills that could, in turn, lead to more confidence in their
peer acceptance. For example, a teacher who believes a child lacks confidence
in his or her peer acceptance might pair the child with another child who is
confident about her peer acceptance, in order to provide a model of social
behavior. In addition, a parent wanting to help a child gain confidence in peer
acceptance might provide play dates with familiar peers or enroll the child in extracurricular
activities to broaden the child's social network.
It is also important to examine
the associations between children's social behaviors and perceptions of peer
acceptance with the demographic variables of gender and race. If gender and
racial difference are evident, teachers and parents might want to examine their
teaching and child-rearing practices, respectively. Gender and racial
variations might be intentional to promote children's growth across
developmental areas (e.g., extra reinforcement for girls to play with blocks to
encourage the development of spatial reasoning, while not providing such
encouragement to boys who are likely to be self-motivated toward block play
and/or receiving reinforcement from peers for doing so). However, some socialization
practices may unintentionally promote limiting stereotypes (e.g., "Big
boys don't cry," "Girls, please play nicely").
Research consistently has
documented the different social interaction styles displayed by girls and boys.
While boys frequently are found to engage in more overt aggression than girls
(Coie & Dodge, 1998), the socialization of girls tends to emphasize
prosocial behavior more than does the socialization of boys (Eisenberg &
Fabes, 1998). Moreover, in children's close relationships, girls appear to be
interested in intimacy and affiliation, while boys focus on status (Ladd, 1990;
Maccoby, 1990).
There are fewer investigations of
racial and ethnic preferences among children; furthermore, those that exist
show less consistent findings than those examining gender differences. Children
do appear to prefer to play with partners of the same race or ethnicity
(Finklestein & Haskens, 1983; Fishbein & Imai, 1993; Lederberg, Chapin,
Rosenblatt, & Vandell, 1986). Engaging in bullying behaviors appears to be
ethnically "blind," however, with one study finding White and Asian
bullies to be equally prevalent (Boulton, 1995). Another study found that
children's self-esteem was positively affected by cross-race relationships
(Taylor, 1991).
In summary, this study
investigated the associations between aggression, shyness/withdrawal, prosocial
behavior, friendship skill, and social behavior problems and peer acceptance in
kindergarten. Children's own feelings of peer acceptance, sociometric ratings from
peers, and teacher and parent perceptions of children's confidence in their
peer acceptance were included in the regression analysis to isolate the social
behaviors that predict kindergartners' peer acceptance across informants. The
present study also investigated differences in social behaviors and peer
acceptance among children of different genders and varied ethnic backgrounds in
a diverse school and community.
Method
Participants
All of the 53 kindergarten
children (16 girls, 37 boys) who were enrolled at a university affiliated
laboratory early childhood school over a two-year period participated in the
study. Before enrolling their children in the laboratory school, parents are
asked to sign a blanket consent form for their children to participate in
research projects. While notification of specific studies is still required,
individual consent forms for each study are not. The procedures of this study
(including that children would be observed and interviewed, and that teachers
and parents would be asked to provide questionnaire data) were described in a
letter sent to all parents. No parent, after receiving a description of the
study, requested that his or her child be excluded.
The average age of the
kindergartners in November (when the observations began) of each year of data
collection was 5 years, 8 months (range = 5 years, 1 month to 6 years, 8
months). Sixty percent of the school's children were European American, 30%
African American, and 10% other (primarily Asian American or mixed race). The
majority of the children at the school were from middle-class households.
The children were enrolled in one
of two classrooms. The first was a kindergarten classroom that used whole
language as its overarching teaching philosophy. Forty children (12 girls) were
enrolled in this classroom over the two years of the study. The second
classroom used the Montessori educational philosophy and was mixed-aged
(preschool through kindergarten). Thirteen kindergartners (4 girls) were
enrolled in the Montessori classroom.
All analyses were conducted using
the 40 children, for whom there were complete and reliable data. There were
incomplete data for eight children, primarily due to missing parent
questionnaires. As detailed in the Measures section, five children did not have
reliable observation data. The children included in the analyses did not differ
in gender, race, or classroom enrollment significantly from those not included
in the final sample.
Procedures
Observations of children's social
behaviors took place over several months. Children were observed by researchers
as they engaged in work and play inside and outside their classrooms during the
course of the regular school day. In the winter of each data collection year,
teachers and parents completed questionnaires about children's social skills
and feelings of competence. In the spring of each data collection year, the
authors individually interviewed the children to obtain their sociometric
ratings and self-perceptions of competence.
Measures
Observations.
Each observer
recorded anecdotal notes of a child's social behavior for several hours over
several days before beginning to use the Preschool Behavior Q-set (Baumrind,
1967) to assess children's social behavior. Then, the observer rated each of
the 72 Q-set items by placing them in a rectangular distribution: 8 items in
each of 9 piles from least characteristic (1) to most characteristic (9).
Before coding independently, each observer established adequate reliability
(average kappa scores across Q-set items = .70) with the principal
investigator. At least two observers independently rated each child's social
behaviors. The observers' scores were averaged for each child. Kappa scores
were used to assess the reliability of observers rating children from observations
at different times. The average kappa score was .70 (range .43-.89). When
adequate kappa scores (at least .40; Howes & Hamilton, 1992) could not be
obtained from two observers' Q-sets on a child, a third observer rated the
child. For five children, adequate kappa scores could not be obtained with the
three observers, therefore, these children were not included in the analyses.
Four social behavior style dimensions are derived from the Q-set (Howes &
Phillipsen, 1992): prosocial, gregarious, aggressive, and withdrawn. This
report included three of the dimensions: prosocial, aggressive, and withdrawn.
Cronbach alphas were .82, .91, and .81, respectively. The gregarious dimension
was not included, due to lack of a counterpart in the teacher measures.
Teacher questionnaire.
Teachers
completed the Cassidy and Asher (1992) teacher assessment of behavior for each
child in their classroom. The 12-item measure asks teachers to rate children's
behaviors on a five-point scale, with scores ranging from not true (1) to very
true (5). The items are averaged into four behavioral dimensions: prosocial,
aggressive, disruptive, and shy/withdrawn behavior. This study used three of
these dimensions (Cronbach alphas are in parentheses): prosocial behavior
(.89), aggression (.89), and shyness/withdrawal (.69). The disruptive dimension
was not included, due to lack of a counterpart in the observer measures.
Teachers also completed an item about children's confidence in their peer
acceptance (How confident is this child about other children wanting to play
with him/her?). This question assessed teachers' awareness of children's
confidence in their relationships with peers. This item was rated on a
four-point scale, from not very confident (1) to very confident (4).
Parent questionnaire.
Parents
responded to questions about children's friendship skills (Profilet & Ladd,
1994) and social behavior problems (Elliott, Gresham, Freeman, & McCloskey,
1988). The four friendship skill questions were rated on a five-point scale,
from not at all easily (1) to extremely easily (5) (sample item: How easily
does your child make friends with children he or she doesn't know?). These
items were averaged to create a friendship skill score (Cronbach alpha = .79).
There were 17 social behavior problems (e.g., fights with others, acts sad or
depressed); parents rated the frequency of their child showing each behavior
from never (0) to very often (2). The sum of the 17 behaviors served as the
social behavior problem score (Cronbach alpha = .87). Parents also completed
the same item that teachers did about children's confidence in their peer
acceptance.
Child interview.
Children were
interviewed individually by a female researcher in a room nearby, yet separate
from, their classrooms. During the interview, children completed sociometric
ratings and perceptions of competence.For the sociometric ratings,
children were first presented with a picture of themselves and asked who was
pictured. All of the children were able to recognize themselves. Children were
then asked how much they liked to play by themselves, and were presented with
three options: a lot (3), corresponding to the largest of three plastic bowls;
a little (2), corresponding to a medium-sized plastic bowl; and not at all (1),
corresponding to the smallest of the three plastic bowls. Children rated
themselves first to ensure that they understood the procedure. After rating
themselves, children were presented, one by one, with pictures of their
classmates and asked to name each child, and then to place the picture in one
of three bowls according to how much they liked to play with each child. If
they liked to play with a child a lot (3), they placed the picture in the
largest bowl; if they liked to play with a child a little (2), they placed the
picture in the medium-size bowl; if they liked to play with a child not a t all
(1), they placed the picture in the smallest bowl. The sociometric ratings that
each child received from all peers were averaged.
For the perceptions of
competence, children answered 16 questions (a subsample of items from the
Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Acceptance of Young Children
[Harter & Pike, 1980]). Pilot testing indicated that time constraints
necessitated reducing the measure. Omitted items were those with which children
might have had limited experience (e.g., eating dinner or sleeping over at a
friend's house). Children completed one sample item before answering the 16
study items. Each item was presented in two steps. First, children were asked
which of two pictures of children engaging in similar activities most closely
represented them. For example, for a peer acceptance item, children were shown
two pictures presented side by side. One picture showed a group of several
children standing together on a playground, with the target child (identified
by a pictured arrow, as well as being pointed to by the interviewer) in the
middle of the group. The second picture showed a group of children standing
together in the foreground of a playground, but the target child was standing
away from the group by him/herself. Children were told, "This boy/girl
usually gets asked to play with the other kids (interviewer points to target
child in first picture), but this boy/girl gets lonely sometimes because the
other kids don't ask him/her to play" (interviewer points to target child
in second picture). After the child chose one of the two pictures as being like
him/herself, he or she was asked whether the picture was "a lot like
you" or "a little like you." This procedure gave children simple
choices, while enabling their responses to be coded on a 4-point scale.
Cronbach alpha for the peer acceptance sub scale (4 items) was .68.
Data Reduction
To reduce overlap among
constructs, the observer and teacher variables were averaged to create
composite variables of prosocial, aggressive, and shy/withdrawn behavior. That
is, the observers' ratings of children's prosocial behavior and the teacher's
prosocial ratings were averaged; the observers' ratings of children's
aggressive behavior and the teacher's aggressive ratings were averaged; and the
observers' ratings of children's withdrawn behavior and the teacher's
shy/withdrawn ratings were averaged. The Cronbach alphas for these variables
were as follows: prosocial behavior = .86, aggressive behavior = .90, and
shy/withdrawn behavior = .68. It must be noted that the alpha for the
shyness/withdrawal composite was quite modest, particularly in comparison to
the alphas for the prosocial and aggressive behavior composites.
In sum, five social behavior
variables were retained as independent variables in the analyses: prosocial
behavior (composite of observer and teacher ratings), aggression (composite of
observer and teacher ratings), shyness/withdrawal (composite of observer and
teacher ratings), friendship skill (rated by parents), and social behavior
problems (rated by parents). Four perceptions of peer acceptance were included
as dependent variables in the analyses: the child's self-report of feelings of
peer acceptance, the average sociometric rating received from all classmates,
the teacher's report of the child's confidence in peer acceptance, and the
parent's report of the child's confidence in peer acceptance.
Results
Analysis Plan
Preliminary analyses indicated
that there were no significant differences between children enrolled in the two
classrooms on any of the five social behavior variables described above
("Data Reduction" section); thus, no classroom distinctions were made
in the analyses. Three sets of analyses were conducted. The correlational and
group difference analyses were conducted first, because the results of these
analyses might have had an impact on the variables included in the regression
analyses. Correlational analyses were completed on interrelations among the five
social behavior ratings and the four views of peer acceptance. Second, group
differences (gender and race) in the social behavior and peer acceptance
variables were compared. Finally, a series of simultaneous multiple regression
analyses were conducted to discover which social behavior variables best
predicted each of the peer acceptance measures.
Correlations
Correlations were first computed
among the five social behaviors: prosocial behavior, aggression,
shyness/withdrawal, friendship skill, and social behavior problems. The social
behavior ratings were modestly inter-correlated, with an average r of .32 (see
Table 1). Prosocial behavior and aggression were strongly (inversely) related.
Aggression and shyness/withdrawal were also inversely related. Parent-rated
friendship skill and social behavior problems were inversely associated as
well. Across informants, only prosocial behavior was significantly associated
(inversely) with social behavior problems.
Next, correlations were computed
among the four perceptions of peer acceptance: the child's report of feelings
of peer acceptance, the average sociometric rating received from all
classmates, the parent's report of the child's confidence in peer acceptance,
and the teacher's report of the child's confidence in peer acceptance. The
average correlation among the four perceptions of peer acceptance was .20. As
shown in Table 2, children's perceptions of their peer acceptance were not
linked with the sociometric ratings, teacher perceptions, or parent perceptions.
The sociometric ratings, teacher perceptions, and parent perceptions were
positively correlated, although the observed correlations were not strong (rs
ranged from .31 to .33,p [less than] .05).
Group Differences
T-tests were used to investigate
gender differences in the social behavior variables. As shown in Table 3, two
significant differences emerged. Girls were rated as more prosocial than boys
were (t(38)=2.44, p [less than] .05), and boys were rated as more aggressive
than girls (t(38)=1.76, p [less than] .10). No gender differences were found in
the parent ratings of friendship skill or social behavior problems.
One-way analyses of variance
(ANOVAs) were completed to examine differences among the social behavior
ratings for European American African American, and other races. No
statistically significant differences were found.
Predictions of Peer Acceptance
Four simultaneous multiple
regression analyses were conducted, each with one of the four measures of peer
acceptance as the dependent variable. All analyses included the five social
behavior ratings as predictor variables.
The first regression, predicting
children's own feelings of peer acceptance from the social behavior ratings,
was significant (F (5,34)=2.60, p [less than] .05). The overall variance
accounted for by the predictor variables was 28%. The results (displayed in
Table 4) show that friendship skill was a significant positive predictor of
children's perceptions of peer acceptance. Parent reports of high friendship
skill were associated with child reports of high peer acceptance.
The second regression predicted
sociometric ratings from the social behavior ratings. It was not statistically
significant. In the third regression, teacher ratings of children's confidence
in their peer acceptance served as the dependent variable. The overall R was
significant (F (5,34)=2.78, p [less than] .05). The overall variance accounted
for by the predictor variables was 29%. As Table 4 shows, shy-withdrawn
behavior was the only significant predictor (inversely related). That is,
children who observers and teachers thought were shy and withdrawn also were
rated by teachers as lacking confidence in their peer acceptance.
The fourth regression predicted
parent ratings of children's confidence in their peer acceptance. The results
of this analysis were statistically significant (F(5,34)=2.86, p [less than]
.05). The social behavior ratings accounted for 30% of the variance in parent
ratings of children's confidence in their peer acceptance. As shown in Table 4,
friendship skill was a significant positive predictor of parent ratings of
children's confidence in their peer acceptance. That is, when parents thought
their children had good friendship skills, they also thought their children
felt accepted by peers.
Discussion
The primary goal of this study
was to isolate social behaviors that predicted perceptions of peer acceptance
of kindergartners when considering several types of social behavior
simultaneously. The multiple regression analyses revealed that both friendship
skill and shy, withdrawn behavior predicted perceptions of kindergartners' peer
acceptance. The ratings of friendship skill were parents' judgments of their
children's abilities to form and maintain friendships with peers. The
importance of friendship skills cannot be overestimated, as previous research
has shown that having friends is extremely important for children's
psychological wellbeing (Renshaw & Brown, 1993; Vandell & Hembree,
1994).
The findings related to
shyness/withdrawal are particularly interesting. Previous research has
suggested that aggression puts children at risk for peer relations difficulties
across childhood, while shy/withdrawn behavior has been considered less
problematic until children are older (i.e., in upper elementary school; see
Rubin et al., 1998). The present findings suggest that shy and withdrawn
behavior is problematic for kindergartners' peer relations, at least in this
sample of children. However, the shyness/withdrawal composite variable showed
fairly low internal consistency, so these findings must be interpreted with
caution.
The practical implications of
these findings are that parents and teachers should encourage and scaffold
children's interaction with peers in the classroom and the playground. This one
emphasis could address both of the social behaviors linked with perceptions of
low peer acceptance: the lack of friendship skill and the presence of shy and
withdrawn behavior. Fostering positive and appropriate child-child interactions
could promote close relationships among children, while also discouraging the
withdrawal of one or two children from the peer group.
To promote such interaction,
teachers could organize the classroom materials, physical environment and daily
schedule to encourage different kinds of groupings (e.g., pairs of children,
small groups, and whole group) and interactions (e.g., play, peer tutoring,
cooperative learning groups, discussions) throughout the day. Teachers also
could implement a curriculum unit about friendship, using stories, games,
artwork, and other activities to facilitate children's thinking and discussion
about friendship skills (Ramsey, 1991). Parents could foster friendship skill
and interactive behavior by encouraging their children to talk about the
children they like and dislike (and why), organizing play dates between
children of compatible behavioral styles, and modeling and talking about their
own experiences with peers and friendship. Social skills training programs are
also available for children with serious issues with aggression, withdrawal, or
inappropriate behavior (Coie, 1985; Mize & Ladd, 1990).
Aggressive behavior, as rated by
observers or teachers, did not predict peer acceptance in any of the regression
analyses. These results are somewhat surprising, given the many studies that
have found that aggressive behavior is negatively associated with peer
acceptance (Dodge et al., 1990; Hatzichristou & Hopf, 1996; Ladd et al.,
1988; Lemerise, 1997;Rubin et al., 1998). One interpretation of these findings
is that the kindergarten classrooms in this study may have fostered a climate
of acceptance of aggression. The fact that the majority (65 percent) of the
classrooms' children were boys, who tend to be more aggressive than girls,
lends credence to this possibility. Coie and Dodge (1998) describe contexts
where aggression "works": "Environments that allow children to
be exposed to aggression, to try out aggression, and to experience its positive
instrumental consequences are likely to have children who develop aggressively"
(p. 797). Classrooms with a large proportion of boys and a high degree of child
in dependence (as both classrooms in this study could be described) might be
environments that foster an aggressive climate.
An alternative explanation for
the lack of prediction of aggression for peer acceptance is that measurement
error related to the aggression measures contributed to the lack of results.
This possibility seems slim, however. The aggression composite included
observer and teacher ratings about children's propensity for mean and hurtful
behavior, including bullying, starting fights, and general destructiveness. The
associations among the measures and the group difference results revealed
strong and consistent results for aggression (i.e., aggression was inversely
related to prosocial behavior and positively related to social behavior
problems, and aggression was rated more highly for boys than girls).
The analyses of group differences
revealed results that are consistent with previous studies. Girls were rated as
more prosocial than boys, and boys were rated as more aggressive than girls
(Dodge et al., 1990; Hatzichristou & Hopf, 1996; Ladd et al., 1988;
Lemerise, 1997). The lack of racial differences is also fairly convergent with
a literature that has found few significant differences (Finklestein &
Haskens, 1983). Since findings of racial differences often actually reflect
socioeconomic disparities, the fact that the socioeconomic background of the
sample was primarily middle class also makes these results not surprising.
The correlational analyses of
children's social behaviors were in line with expectations. Prosocial behavior
was negatively associated with aggression and social behavior problems,
aggression, and shyness/withdrawal were negatively linked, and social behavior
problems and friendship skill were negatively associated. It is interesting
that parents' ratings of children's friendship skills were not associated with
the observer and teacher ratings of children's social behaviors, yet they were
such a consistent predictor of children's peer acceptance. It might be surmised
that parent ratings were not linked with the observer and teacher ratings
because the children's behavior was seen in different contexts. Observers and
teachers most likely base their information on children's behavior at school,
while parents presumably rate their child's behavior outside of school. Yet,
parent reports of peer acceptance were associated with teacher reports and
sociometric ratings. Further examination of parent ratings of friendship skills
seems warranted in order to understand the behaviors observed by parents and
how they differ from children's behavior at school.
Kindergartners' perceptions of
their own peer acceptance were strikingly divergent from that of their peer
group, parents, and teachers. Clearly, young children's feelings about their
social competence do not always match the view of others. These findings
contrast with research investigating associations between subjective and
objective views of peer acceptance in older children. Children in the 3rd
through 5th grades have been found to assess their peer acceptance more
similarly to others' views than did the kindergartners in this study (Hymel,
Bowker, & Woody, 1993; Patterson, Kupersmidt, & Griesler, 1990). These
results also call peer relations researchers to bear in mind the perspective of
their informant in making conclusions about their data. A young child who is
viewed as socially competent by others may not feel socially competent, a dissonance
that may affect his or her ber bavior. Also, the perspective of the child
should be considered when designing both informal and formal interventions of
peer acceptance.
In this study, two social
behaviors--the lack of friendship skills and the presence of shy and withdrawn
behavior--were most strongly linked with children's and adults' perceptions of
low peer acceptance. These results indicate that parents and teachers should
guide and encourage children's interactions with peers in the classroom and the
playground. This emphasis could promote close relationships among children
while also discouraging the withdrawal of one or two children from the peer
group. The findings from this study also emphasize the variations among
informants' views of children's social behaviors and peer acceptance.
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