Abstract

The present study examined children's preferences for help and helpers from the child's viewpoint as help-seeker. Preschool, first-, third-, and fifth-grade children were asked to indicate the persons from whom they would seek help in situations requiring either academic or social assistance. Reasons for selecting specific helpers were also obtained. Examination of spontaneous responses indicated that over all ages and situations teachers, peers, and parents were most frequently chosen as helpers. Age-related changes in selection of and preference for helpers were also found. There was a trend toward decreased preference for parents with increasing age. Whereas preferences for teachers increased only slightly across age groups, there was a strong developmental trend toward increasing selection of peers. In addition, with increasing age children's reasoning about thier helper selections focused less on their own needs and global characteristics of the helper, and focused more on specific attributes of helpers and existing relationships between themselves as help-seekers and the selected helper.

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