Abstract
This paper presents an evolutionary perspective on children's resourcedirected behaviour in peer groups. It is argued that reciprocity is theoretically expected to be the fundamental rule of resource exchange in peer relationships of friendship. Children are therefore expected to be attracted to peers who are similar to themselves on a wide variety of traits. These traits are viewed as resources in peer relationships, and individual differences in these traits represent a resource environment for children. In this paper, the resource environment represented by individual differences in several evolved motivational systems will be emphasised. The discussion focuses on such three evolved systems, the sensation seeking/impulsivity system, the human affectional system, and the behavioural inhibition system. It is concluded that individual differences in these systems are important for understanding friendship and sociometric status in children's peer relationships.
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