Hypothetical Peer Research Articles

Can friendships be bipartisan? The effects of political ideology on peer relationships

Although political ideology has been examined extensively as a predictor of individual differences, it has been absent in the interpersonal relationships literature. Political ideology may have strong effects on friendship patterns because of its polarizing nature. Findings among actual friendship groups (Study 1) indicated a degree of similarity in peers’ political ideology alignments, but also suggested that liberals and conservatives were comfortable with some level of bipartisanship among their friends. In an experimental condition with hypothetical peers (Study 2), individuals’ political ideology predicted their reported friendship potential (perceived similarity and desire for friendship) with gay-affirming and gay-disapproving peers whose ideologies were not explicitly indicated. This effect of political ideology on friendship potential was significant over and above the effect predicted by individuals’ similarity or dissimilarity on sexual minority attitudes with these peers. Findings highlight the overarching relevance of political ideology as a factor that contributes to friendship patterns.

The relationship between peer conflict resolution knowledge and peer victimization in school-age children across the language continuum

Peer victimization, or bullying, has been identified as a significant child health priority and children with language impairment (LI) are among those who are vulnerable. Given the mandate of educators to provide support for all students who are bullied regardless of language status, research is needed that integrates the study of risk factors for peer victimization among children who are developing typically and children who have LI. Accordingly, this preliminary study explored the degree to which one potential risk factor, peer conflict resolution knowledge, was related to peer victimization in children across the language continuum, and considered whether or not individual differences in language ability influenced that relationship. Participants included 17 girls and 15 boys aged 9–12 years with a wide range of language abilities, six meeting criteria for LI. Participants completed a hypothetical peer conflict resolution task and a measure of peer victimization. Correlational analyses revealed very different patterns of relationships for boys and girls. Whereas boys’ reports of peer victimization were meaningfully related to how they responded to hypothetical peer conflicts, girls’ reports were most strongly associated with language ability. These preliminary findings suggest that it is important to consider gender when conceptualizing how factors such as peer conflict resolution knowledge might influence children's risk of being bullied. Learning outcomes: Readers will be able to: (1) provide a definition of peer victimization and give examples of different forms of peer victimization; (2) recognize that inadequate peer conflict resolution knowledge may be a risk factor for peer victimization; (3) describe the relationships between peer conflict resolution knowledge, language ability, and peer victimization in this study, and explain how these relationships differed for boys and girls; and (4) identify at least three opportunities for future research that would help to clarify risk factors for peer victimization in boys and girls.

Innovations in measuring peer conflict resolution knowledge in children with LI: Exploring the accessibility of a visual analogue rating scale

This preliminary study explored peer conflict resolution knowledge in children with and without language impairment (LI). Specifically, it evaluated the utility of a visual analogue scale (VAS) for measuring nuances in such knowledge. Children aged 9–12 years, 26 with typically developing language (TLD) and 6 with LI, completed a training protocol and hypothetical task in which they rated goals and strategies that could be pursued following peer conflict. Whereas participants with TLD provided graded judgments using the entire VAS, most children with LI relied solely on the scale anchors. These results suggest at least two possibilities. The less differentiated manner in which participants with LI utilized the VAS may have been influenced by how they viewed the peer conflict situations. Alternatively, additional training may be required to enable them to consistently use the whole scale. Further research is needed to establish whether ratings made by children with LI reflect differences in social perceptions or a need for further experience with the VAS. In either case, distinguishing between these alternatives will likely provide a better understanding of factors that impact the peer relationships of children with LI.Learning outcomes: Readers will be able to: (1) identify challenges associated with assessing peer conflict resolution knowledge in children with language impairments; (2) describe current methods for measuring children's peer conflict resolution knowledge; (3) describe a visual analogue rating (VAS) scale and explain the potential advantages of this scale format; and (4) describe similarities and differences in how children with and without LI used a VAS in a hypothetical peer conflict resolution task.

Development of the Children's Attributions about Psychological Problems in their Peers Scale

Research has shown that children's beliefs about the causes of psychological problems are related to their attitudes and reactions towards affected peers. This study describes the development of the Children's Attributions about Psychological Problems in their Peers (CAPPP) Scale, which assesses children's beliefs about the causes of an internalizing and an externalizing condition. The 16 items comprising the CAPPP are derived from previous qualitative research findings. Five hundred and ninety-five young people, drawn from five different age groups spanning early childhood to late adolescence, completed a CAPPP Scale for each of two vignettes describing the behaviour of hypothetical peers with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression. Modifications following consideration of psychometric properties and conceptual fit resulted in a 12-item scale. For both the ADHD and depression conditions, the components that emerged were 'Volition', 'Recent Life Stress', 'Family Factors' and 'School Factors'. The present study represents the first field trial of the CAPPP. Results suggest that children's and adolescents' beliefs about the causes of psychological problems are multidimensional and incorporate both individual and environmental factors.

Middle School Student Intentions to Play with Peers with Disabilities in Physical Education: Using the Theory of Planned Behavior

The purpose of the study was to develop a scale measuring intentions of children without disabilities to play with a hypothetical peer with a physical disability in general physical education using the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 50:179–211, 1991) and to provide evidence of reliability, content validity, and initial factor structure. A background questionnaire and a pilot version of the Children’s Intentions to Play with Peers with Disabilities in Middle-School Physical Education (CIPPD-MPE) were administered to a convenience sample of 250 middle school students. Content validity of CIPPD-MPE was established by seven content experts. Findings revealed four factors (behavioral beliefs, control beliefs, behavioral intention, and normative beliefs), which explained 58% of the variance. Internal consistency ranged between .65 and .92. All factors were significantly correlated with intention, indicating the potential of CIPPD-MPE to predict intention of children without disabilities to play with a hypothetical peer with a physical disability in GPE.

Perceptions of Healthy Children Toward Peers With a Chronic Condition

Perceptions of children with chronic illness may influence their peer relationships. This study examined the impact of illness visibility (i.e., an illness characteristic visible to other people) and medical explanation (i.e., a condition with a documented medical cause) on peer perceptions. Fifty healthy children (33 girls and 17 boys) aged 8 to 12 years (M = 9.34, SD = 1.26) were presented with vignettes describing hypothetical children with a visible–medically explained, non-visible–non-medically explained, visible–non-medically explained, or non-visible–medically explained condition. Perceptions of the hypothetical peer along affective, behavioral, and cognitive dimensions were assessed. Children with visible, non-medically explained conditions were perceived more negatively, suggesting that these children may be at risk for peer difficulties.

Children's Anticipated Responses to Hypothetical Peers With Undesirable Characteristics: Role of Peers' Desire to Change, Effort to Change, and Outcome

ABSTRACT The authors explored the extent to which 5th- and 6th-grade students’ anticipated responses to hypothetical peers with undesirable characteristics (e.g., being overweight) are influenced by information that each peer (a) desired (or did not desire) to change the characteristic, (b) exerted effort (or did not exert effort) to change the characteristic, and (c) was successful (or unsuccessful) in changing the characteristic. In general, the children anticipated responding more favorably to peers who were successful in overcoming an undesirable characteristic than those who were unsuccessful. However, across both outcome conditions, peers who wanted to change and exerted effort to change were rated more favorably than were peers who reported no effort to change an undesirable characteristic, regardless of whether or not they had expressed a desire to change that characteristic. For peers whose failure to change an undesirable characteristic was associated with no effort to change, those who expressed a desire to change were rated more favorably than those who expressed no desire to change.

Young Children’s Decisions to Include Peers With Physical Disabilities in Play

The authors examined factors related to preschool children’s reasoning about including a hypothetical peer with a physical disability in different play activities. They hypothesized that children’s inclusion decisions would be influenced by features of the physical environment, attention to issues of fairness and equity, and individual child characteristics. Participants comprised 72 children enrolled in inclusive preschool classrooms. Children’s ideas about inclusion and their inclusion decisions were gathered in response to vignettes reflecting experiences that children are likely to encounter in preschool. The authors found that children were significantly more likely to say that they would include a child with a physical disability in an activity requiring few motor skills. Children’s inclusion decisions were also significantly associated with their developing theory-of-mind skills and with prompts that encouraged them to consider issues of fairness and equity when making a decision. These results suggest that adaptations of planned activities that promote participation by reducing motor demands for all children, along with attention to issues of fairness and equity of opportunity, may be effective classroomwide interventions to support inclusion of children with disabilities in play activities with peers.

Children’s Beliefs Toward Cooperative Playing With Peers With Disabilities in Physical Education

Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991) was used to elicit salient behavioral, normative, and control beliefs of children without disabilities toward playing with a hypothetical peer with a disability in general physical education. Participants were 350 elementary and middle school students who completed two questionnaires. Questionnaires were assessed for content validity. Participants provided more affective (68%) than instrumental (32%) responses for favorable behavioral beliefs and more instrumental (76%) than affective (24%) responses for unfavorable beliefs. Peer social pressure was prevalent in favorable (69%) and unfavorable (99%) responses. Social pressure significantly varied across five grades, chi-squared(4, N = 448) = 40.51, p < .01. Participants responded many factors in the class would positively (76%) or negatively (89%) influence the behavior.

Code of silence: Students' perceptions of school climate and willingness to intervene in a peer's dangerous plan.

The current study presented 1,933 adolescents from 13 schools with a scenario about a hypothetical peer's plan to "do something dangerous" at school and asked how likely they would be to respond with four different actions: intervene directly, tell a teacher or principal, discuss it with a friend but not an adult, and do nothing. High school students were less likely than those in middle school to say they would approach the peer directly or confide in a teacher or principal. Students were most likely to favor taking action on their own over all of the other response strategies. Students with positive perceptions of their schools were more likely to say they would do something rather than ignore their peer's dangerous intentions. These relationships were mediated by students' beliefs that confiding in a teacher may have unfavorable consequences. Findings from this study support the important role schools play in creating a culture where students take responsibility for one another.

Relations between classroom context, physical disability and preschool children's inclusion decisions

Understanding typically developing children's decisions about including classmates with disabilities in play activities is critical to understanding the development of social relationships between children with disabilities and typically developing peers. We examined children's ideas about, and explanations for, inclusion as a function of play setting (e.g., outdoor play vs. drawing) and a child's physical disability. Children responded to multiple sources of information, including information about the activity and about the skills required to play, in making inclusion decisions. They were more likely to select a hypothetical peer with a physical disability when the disability interfered minimally with participation in the activity. Moreover, children were more likely to refer to issues of sharing and enjoyment to explain their inclusion of a child with a physical disability and to issues associated with ability to explain selection of a typically developing child. Results suggest that attending to issues of equity and fairness and providing appropriate adaptations that allow all children to participate may be valuable strategies for supporting interactions among young children with a range of different abilities in the same preschool classroom.

Developmental changes and individual differences in risk and perspective taking in adolescence

Despite the assumed prevalence of risk-taking behavior in adolescence, the laboratory evidence of risk taking remains scarce, and the individual variation poorly understood. Drawing from neuroscience studies, we tested whether risk and reward orientation are influenced by the perspective that adolescents take when making risky decisions. Perspective taking was manipulated by cuing participants prior to each choice whether the decision was made for "self," or from the perspective of an "other" (the experimenter in Experiment 1; a hypothetical peer in Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, we show a developmental decrease in risk-taking behavior across different stages of adolescence. In addition, all age groups made fewer risky choices for the experimenter, but the difference between self and other was larger in early adolescence. In Experiment 2, we show that high sensation-seeking (SS) adolescents make more risky choices than low SS adolescents, but both groups make a similar differentiation for other individuals (low risk-taking or high risk-taking peers). Together, the results show that younger adolescents and high SS adolescents make more risky choices for themselves, but can appreciate that others may make fewer risky choices. The developmental change toward more rational decisions versus emotional, impulsive decisions may reflect, in part, more efficient integration of others' perspectives into one's decision making. These developmental results are discussed regarding brain systems important for risk taking and perspective taking.

Social knowledge in children with language impairments: Examination of strategies, predicted consequences, and goals in peer conflict situations

This study investigated social knowledge in school‐age children, aged 8–12 years, with and without language impairment (LI and TD groups). A hypothetical peer conflict task was administered to examine the relationship among prosocial responses and parent/teacher ratings of children's social behaviours. Stimuli included 12 hypothetical peer conflict vignettes presented in an open‐ended and forced choice condition. The LI group generated (open‐ended) and selected (forced choice) fewer prosocial strategies. When asked to predict a friend's reaction to a selected conflict resolution strategy, the LI group predicted fewer positive consequences; however, the proportion of prosocial strategies followed by prediction of a positive peer consequence was similar across groups. Both groups identified more self‐interest than relationship goals as the rationale for selected strategies. In the LI group, teacher ratings of children's social skills and problems in peer provocation situations were associated with selection of prosocial strategies. Implications for clinical service providers are discussed.

Individual Differences in Children's Materialism: The Role of Peer Relations

Associations between materialism and peer relations are likely to exist in elementary school children but have not been studied previously. The first two studies introduce a new Perceived Peer Group Pressures (PPGP) Scale suitable for this age group, demonstrating that perceived pressure regarding peer culture (norms for behavioral, attitudinal, and material characteristics) can be reliably measured and that it is connected to children's responses to hypothetical peer pressure vignettes. Studies 3 and 4 evaluate the main theoretical model of associations between peer relations and materialism. Study 3 supports the hypothesis that peer rejection is related to higher perceived peer culture pressure, which in turn is associated with greater materialism. Study 4 confirms that the endorsement of social motives for materialism mediates the relationship between perceived peer pressure and materialism.

Types of Aggression, Responsiveness to Provocation, and Callous-unemotional Traits in Detained Adolescents

The present study investigated differences in the behavioral and psychophysiological responses to provocation and in the level of callous-unemotional traits in boys exhibiting different patterns of aggression. Eighty-five boys (ages 13-18) in a juvenile detention center played a competitive computer task against a hypothetical peer who provided low and high levels of provocation. Youth high on both self-reported reactive and proactive aggression showed different behavioral responses to provocation than youth high on only reactive aggression. Specifically, the combined group showed high levels of aggressive responses without any provocation, whereas the group high on reactive aggression showed an increase in aggressive responding to low provocation. Further, results revealed a trend for the combined group to show lower levels of skin conductance reactivity to low provocation if they were also high on callous-unemotional traits.

Children's attitudes and behavioural intentions towards a peer with symptoms of ADHD: does the addition of a diagnostic label make a difference?

This article explores the impact of diagnostic/psychiatric labelling on the attitudes and behavioural intentions of school-aged children towards a hypothetical peer presented with symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A sample of 120 children aged 11-12 years read one of three vignettes describing the behaviour of a gender-neutral, same-age peer presenting with symptoms of ADHD. The participants completed self-report measures of attitudes and behavioural intentions after reading the respective vignettes. The majority of participants perceived the vignette character as being male and the attitude held towards him was predominately negative. Significant positive relationships were found between attitudes and children's willingness to engage in social, academic and physical activities. Diagnostic/psychiatric labelling had no additional influence upon attitudes or behavioural intentions. Children's negative attitude towards peers with symptoms of ADHD, given its association with friendship choice, is an important target for change in reducing stigma.

Urban African American Pre-Adolescent Social Problem Solving Skills

Summary The results of two studies focusing on the social problem solving skills of African American preadolescent youth are detailed. In the first study data from a sample of 150 African American children, ages 9 to 11 years, was used to examine the association between type of youth social problem solving approaches applied to hypothetical risk situations and time spent in unsupervised peer situations of sexual possibility. Findings revealed that children with more exposure to sexual possibility situations generated a wider range of social problem solving strategies, but these approaches tended to be unrealistic and ambiguous. Further, there was a positive association between the amount of time spent unsupervised and youth difficulty formulating a definitive response to hypothetical peer pressure situations. Children with less exposure to sexual possibility situations tended to be more aggressive when approaching situations of peer pressure. In the second study, data from a non-overlapping sample of 164 urban, African American adult caregivers and their 9 to 11 year old children was examined in order to explore the associations between child gender, family-level factors including family communication frequency and intensity, time spent in situations of sexual possibility, and youth social problem solving approaches. Results revealed that children were frequently using constructive problem solving and help seeking behaviors when confronted by difficult social situations and that there was a significant relationship between the frequency and intensity of parent child communication and youth help seeking social problem solving approaches. Implications for research and family-based interventions are highlighted.

Understanding Solitude: Young Children's Attitudes and Responses Toward Hypothetical Socially Withdrawn Peers

AbstractThe goal of the present study was to explore young children's attitudes and responses to different forms of social withdrawal by eliciting responses to hypothetical vignettes. Participants included 137 children (49 boys, 88 girls) in kindergarten and grade 1 classes (Mage = 75.94 months, SD = 9.03) in Ottawa, Canada. Parents rated child characteristics, including shyness, unsociability and aggression. Children were also interviewed individually and presented with a series of hypothetical vignettes describing the behaviors of shy, unsociable, aggressive and socially competent children. In response to each vignette, children were asked a series of questions designed to assess their perceptions, attitudes and responses toward each child behavior. Results suggested that young children made surprisingly sophisticated distinctions between shyness and unsociability, demonstrating differences in terms of attributions of behavioral intent, liking and sympathetic responses. In addition, unsociable children evidenced a distinct pattern of responses to hypothetical peers. These findings add to the growing body of research distinguishing different forms of social withdrawal, and shed some light as to why unsociability in early childhood may not be so benign.

Parents’ Aggressive Influences and Children's Aggressive Problem Solutions With Peers

This study examined children's aggressive and assertive solutions to hypothetical peer scenarios in relation to parents’responses to similar hypothetical social scenarios and parents’actual marital aggression. The study included 118 children ages 9 to 10 years old and their mothers and fathers. Children's aggressive solutions correlated with same-sex parents’ actual marital aggression. For children with mothers who exhibited low actual marital aggression, mothers’ aggressive solutions to hypothetical situations corresponded with children's tendencies to propose aggressive but not assertive solutions. In a 3-way interaction, fathers’ aggressive solutions to peer scenarios and marital aggression, combined, exacerbated girls’ aggressive problem solving but had the opposite effect for boys. We address the complexity, particularly with respect to parent and child gender combinations, in understanding parents’ aggressive influences on children's peer relationships.

影響戦術スタイルが友人からのサポートの入手可能性に及ぼす影響

This study examines how the use of influence tactics between peers affects the likelihood of eliciting social support. The participants (261 college students) were asked to imagine themselves in one of six scenarios, which described a hypothetical peer agent who usually uses specific influence tactics and the strength of the friendship. Then the participants rated the likelihood of supporting the agent, when the agent confronted a stressful situation. The result shows that the participants gave less spontaneous support to an agent who used hard influence tactics, such as restricting their freedom in choosing a course of action. Regarding emotional support, when they are in a close relationship with the agent, the participants gave the most spontaneous support to the agent using soft influence tactics, such as ingratiation. Participants gave steady socio-emotional support to agents using rational influence tactics, regardless of their relationship. This study also examined how influence tactics affect the participants' impression of the agent.