SIMILARITY, COHESION, DISTANCING AND FRIENDSHIP QUALITY AMONG ITALIAN AND BOLIVIAN BOYS AND GIRLS: A CROSS NATIONAL COMPARISON

Abstract

This study aimed to contribute at exploring friendship in children from two different countries, Italy and Bolivia, focusing on the association between specific characteristics of children’s friendships, such as similarity, cohesion and distance with friends as represented by the children through drawing, and the perception of their friendship quality. Participants were 100 children (55 Italians and 45 Bolivians) attending primary schools. The two subgroups are balanced for gender and age [Italian girls: 56%, N=31, Bolivian girls 51%, N=23; M age Italian children=8.09 (SD = .74) and Bolivian children M age=7.91 (SD = .90)]. We used children’s drawings and self-reported measures to investigate the dyadic characteristics and the quality of their friendship. Results showed that Italian children drawn themselves and their best friend more similar than Bolivian children [F (1, 94) = 6.65; p<.002]. There are more conflicts in the friendships of Bolivian children than in the Italian ones [F (1, 98) = 7.87; p<. 006]. There is a moderation effect of children's nationality on the association between the pictorial friendship features and friendship quality. These preliminary findings highlighted the importance of investigating children's perceptions of friendship, which is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon, taking into account the social and cultural differences. Key words: cohesion, cross-national differences, distancing, friendship quality, similarity.