Social Competence and Peer Status: Recent Advances and Future Directions

Abstract

ASHER, STEVEN R. Social Competence and Peer Status: Recent Advances and Future Directions. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1983, 54, 1427-1434. The commentary highlights the many conceptual and methodological advances contained in the Coie and Kupersmidt, Dodge, and Putallaz papers. It also focuses on the important intervention implications of the research. Compared with earlier work on the behavioral correlates of status, these papers break with tradition by studying social interactions over time, using fine-grained coding systems, employing multiple measures, and videotaping behavior in carefully designed analogue settings. Together, the papers establish a causal link between social behavior and sociometric status. It is suggested that further attention be given to three dimensions of social competence emerging from these papers: relevance, responsiveness, and an appreciation that relationships evolve over time. There is also a need to examine processes such as the goals children pursue in social situations, children's confidence in goal attainment, and children's ability to monitor social interaction. Finally, there is a need for research on social competence at the dyadic, situational, and developmental levels of analysis.