The Role of a Model's Age for Young Children's Imitation: A Research Review

The influence of a model's age on young children's behaviour has been a subject of considerable debate among developmental theorists. Despite the recent surge of interest, controversy remains about the nature of peer influence in early life. This article reviews studies that investigated the influence of a model's age on young children's behaviour in the first 5 years of life, and presents an account of seemingly mixed results. We propose that children imitate familiar behaviour for social reasons, such as in order to identify with the model or to communicate likeness. Since age is an important indicator of the degree of being alike, we propose that children are more likely to imitate familiar behaviour from peers. In contrast, we propose that children primarily imitate novel behaviour for learning reasons. Since adults are perceived as being more competent than children, children are more likely to learn from adults. We further suggest that increased peer experience leads children to evaluate peers as valuable resources for learning novel behaviour in domains in which peers are knowledgeable. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Peers,parents, and coaches,oh my! The relation of the motivational climate to boys' intention to continue in sport

ObjectivesMotivational climates (Ames, 1992) and goal orientations (Nicholls, 1989) are essential in understanding children's experiences with sport. We examined the perceived task-involving motivational climates created by parents, peers, and coaches and their task goal orientation in relation to male adolescent athletes' sport competence, self-esteem and enjoyment, and ultimately, their intention to continue participating.DesignWe used a cross-sectional design with a large convenience sample of male adolescent athletes from the U.S. (N = 405, ages 12–15 years).MethodBoys anonymously completed survey questionnaires during their physical education classes at school.ResultsTask goal orientation was explained by task-involving parent, peer, and coach initiated motivational climates, although parent and peer climates were most influential. Boys with higher task goal orientations reported greater sport competence, self-esteem, and more enjoyment in sport. Intention to continue playing sport primarily was predicted by the boys' enjoyment, and secondarily, by their self-esteem.ConclusionsConsistent with past research, task motivational climates from parents, peers, and coaches play a key role in boys' enjoyment of their sport, which is essential for continued participation.     

Children's evaluations of ambiguous provocation by relationally aggressive,physically aggressive and prosocial peers

The present study assessed children's evaluations of hypothetical peer provocation. Participants (N = 75, ages 8–11) were presented with hypothetical vignettes depicting relationally aggressive, physically aggressive and prosocial peers engaging in provocative behaviours directed at the participant, including (a) relational (not receiving a party invitation); (b) physical (having a beverage spilled on him/her); and (c) prosocial (being given stale snack food) provocations. Children rated the hostility of the peer's intentions and explained what they themselves would do if actually confronted with the situation. Children were more hostile in their attributions for the behaviour of relationally and physically aggressive peers as compared with the prosocial peers. Additionally, when children reported that they liked the peer, they were less likely to attribute hostility to that peer's behaviour. Results involving children's responses indicate the importance of considering peer reputation and provocation type when examining children's social problem solving. For example, very few children said that they would seek help from an adult when relationally provoked by an aggressive peer; however, in response to physical provocation from an aggressive peer, seeking the assistance of an adult was a common response.     

Discussions on Child Development: A Consideration of the Biological,Psychological, and Cultural Approaches to the Understanding of Human Development and Behaviour. Volumes I and II Edited by J. M. Tanner and B. Inhelder

Self-esteem and peer relationships are such interconnected phenomena that the self-evaluation may be viewed, in large measure, as the inner experience of the esteem in which one is held by one's peers. The ability to have successful peer relations, which validates one's sense of personal worth, depends on positive self-esteem. This article provides a review of the relevant research literature of the last ten years, but it is of interest that discussions of the relationship between self-esteem and peer relations date back to William James, and include Sullivan, Cooley, and Piaget.

When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes

I all alone beweep my outcast state, … Shakespeare Sonnet 29     

On Merely Modal Epistemic Peers: Challenging the Equal-Weight View

There is a controversy, within social epistemology, over how to handle disagreement among epistemic peers. Call this the problem of peer disagreement. There is a solution, i.e. the equal-weight view, which says that disagreement among epistemic peers is a reason for each peer to lower the credence they place in their respective positions. However, this solution is susceptible to a serious challenge. Call it the merely modal peers challenge. Throughout parts of modal space, which resemble the actual world almost completely, there are hordes of epistemic peers, who disagree with almost any arbitrarily chosen belief had by residents of the actual world. Further, the mere modality of these peers is not itself an epistemic difference-maker. Thus, on the equal-weight view, we should significantly lower the credence we place in most of our beliefs. Surely, this is seriously mistaken. Thus, there are serious considerations that cut against the equal-weight view.     

Temperament in early childhood and peer interactions in third grade: The role of teacher–child relationships in early elementary grades

Children's interactions with peers in early childhood have been consistently linked to their academic and social outcomes. Although both child and classroom characteristics have been implicated as contributors to children's success, there has been scant research linking child temperament, teacher–child relationship quality, and peer interactions in the same study. The purpose of this study is to examine children's early temperament, rated at preschool age, as a predictor of interactions with peers (i.e., aggression, relational aggression, victimization, and prosociality) in third grade while considering teacher–child relationship quality in kindergarten through second grades as a moderator and mediator of this association. The sample (N = 1364) was drawn from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Results from structural equation models indicated that teacher–child conflict in early elementary grades mediated links between children's temperament and later peer interactions. Findings underscore the importance of considering children's temperament traits and teacher–child relationship quality when examining the mechanisms of the development of peer interactions.     

A review of research on bullying and peer victimization in school: An ecological system analysis

Bullying and peer victimization in school are serious concerns for students, parents, teachers, and school officials in the U.S. and around the world. This article reviews risk factors associated with bullying and peer victimization in school within the context of Bronfenbrenner's ecological framework. This review integrates empirical findings on the risk factors associated with bullying and peer victimization within the context of micro- (parent–youth relationships, inter-parental violence, relations with peers, school connectedness, and school environment), meso- (teacher involvement), exo- (exposure to media violence, neighborhood environment), macro- (cultural norms and beliefs, religious affiliation), and chronosystem (changes in family structure) levels. Theories that explain the relationships between the risk factors and bullying behavior are also included. We then discuss the efficacy of the current bullying prevention and intervention programs, which is followed by directions for future research.     

Distant Peers

What is the nature of rational disagreement? A number of philosophers have recently addressed this question by examining how we should respond to epistemic conflict with a so‐called epistemic peer—that is, someone over whom you enjoy no epistemic advantage. Some say that you're rationally required to suspend judgment in these cases—thereby denying the very possibility of a certain kind of rational disagreement. Others say that it's permissible to retain your beliefs even in the face of epistemic conflict. By distinguishing between close peers and distant peers, I argue that it's rational to respond to different types of peers in different ways. I also argue that remote peers—a particularly distant kind of distant peer—provide us with an important lesson in epistemic humility.     

Children's meta‐perceptions and meta‐accuracy of acceptance and rejection by same‐sex and other‐sex peers

The goals of this study were to examine children's meta‐perceptions and meta‐accuracy of acceptance and rejection in the peer group, the degree to which these perceptions vary by perceiver sex and sex of the reference group, and the association between these perceptions and children's actual functioning in the peer group. Participants were 644 fourth‐grade children. Meta‐perceptions and meta‐accuracy were derived from sociometric nominations of actual and perceived acceptance and rejection. Children more accurately perceived how they were seen by same‐sex peers than how they were seen by other‐sex peers. They also perceived more rejection than acceptance from other‐sex peers. Meta‐accuracy for rejection was low regardless of the sex of the reference group. Sex of the reference group significantly moderated the association between meta‐perceptions and meta‐accuracy of acceptance and rejection and children's actual peer relationships. These findings indicate the importance of examining these relatively understudied social cognitions in research with children and the importance of taking the sex of the reference group into account in future peer relations studies using peer nomination methods.     

Measuring Social Peer Rejection during Childhood: Development and Validation

This article defines the construct of social peer rejection and describes the development of the Social Peer Rejection Measure. Social peer rejection entails being rejected, excluded, ostracized, or criticized by one's peers; lack of active sympathy and active dislike on the part of one's peers; ignoring; preventing access to friends, playtime activities, toys, or important information; verbal aggression; commands; and blaming the rejected child. Evidence for the validity and reliability of the scale is presented. Results indicated strong content validity, construct validity, and criterion-referenced validity. Differences were found between females and males in terms of insult, accusation, and reported levels of physical attack.     

Preschool Children's Emotional Expressions with Peers: The Roles of Gender and Emotion Socialization

This study examined whether mothers and fathers reported using different emotion socialization strategies and whether these differences were related to preschoolers' gender and emotional expressiveness during peer play. Ninety percent of the children were Caucasian, 6% were Asian-American, and 4% were Mexican-American. The positive expressive behavior of 82 preschoolers participating in two conflict eliciting situations with two same gender peers were coded. The scores for the two sessions were averaged. All of the mothers and 63 of the fathers were administered three emotion socialization questionnaires. Results revealed that girls expressed more positive emotion than boys. In addition, mothers and fathers also reported using different emotion socialization practices and, in some cases, this was dependent upon their child's gender. The findings also showed that mothers' and fathers' reports of emotion socialization practices were differentially related to children's emotionally expressive behavior during peer play. In addition, fathers' emotion socialization practices accounted for unique variance in children's emotionally expressive behavior over and above that explained by the maternal emotion socialization variables. These findings highlight the importance of mothers' and fathers' emotion socialization practices for preschoolers' emotional competence in emotionally challenging situations with peers.     

A Longitudinal Investigation of Sport Participation, Peer Acceptance, and Self-esteem among Adolescent Girls and Boys

The present investigation was designed to explore the relations between sport participation, peer acceptance, and global self-esteem. Peer acceptance was considered as a possible mediator of the relationship between sport participation and global self-esteem. The sample included girls (N?=?4,689) and boys (N?=?5,811) between the ages of 12 and 21 (M?=?15 years) who were part of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Analyses revealed that peer acceptance partially mediated the relation between sport participation and global self-esteem for girls as well as boys. Findings suggest the importance of considering how sport participation and self-evaluations in particular domains may contribute to global feelings of self-worth. The role of peers in this relationship is discussed in relation to changing social attitudes about girls’ sport participation.     

Immigrant children's peer acceptance and victimization in kindergarten: The role of local language competence

The study investigates peer acceptance and victimization of immigrant and Swiss children in kindergarten classes. Our first aim is to compare peer acceptance and victimization of Swiss and immigrant children. Secondly, we explore the role of their local language competences (LLCs). The sample was drawn from kindergartens in communities in the German‐speaking part of Switzerland. A representative sample of 568 boys and 522 girls (mean age 5.8 years) took part in the research. Teachers completed questionnaires on children's victimization, bullying, and LLC. The nationality background of parents was indicated by teachers and parents. To assess peer acceptance, a peer nomination method was used. Immigrant children showed less acceptance by peers and were more often victimized than their Swiss peers. There was a significant interaction effect for LLC and national background of mothers, showing that LLC was positively associated with peer acceptance for children of an immigrant background but not for Swiss children. Furthermore, peer acceptance mediated the effect of national background of mothers on victimization. Results are discussed in terms of the need to improve immigrant children's LLC.     

PYRAMIDAL PARENT TRAINING BY PEERS

This study replicated a pyramidal model of parent training by peers and compared its effects with training by a professional with 26 parents of children with disabilities. A multiple probe design across 3 tiers of parents showed that both types of training produced acquisition, maintenance, and to varying extents, generalization of parents' teaching skills, with concomitant increases in the children's performance in most cases. Improvements were comparable for parents trained by a professional or by peers, and for parents who did and did not serve as peer trainers.     

LETTING REALITY BECOME REAL: On Mystery and Reality in Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Ethics

In Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Ethics the notion of reality plays a central role. The present article focuses on the ethical implications of the Chalcedonian Christology underlying this concept. This approach is tied to the debate on the relationship between the universal and specific identity of Christian social ethics in public discourse. In the opening section the article outlines the pertinence of this debate with regard to Bonhoeffer's Christological ethic. In the following section the article analyzes Bonhoeffer's concept of reality and the implied Chalcedonian traits. With this foundation established the article raises the question about its social ethical implications. The final part of the article argues that Bonhoeffer's ethics and ecclesiology cannot be separated from each other, explaining why Bonhoeffer's notion of reality leads to an assertion of the church's role in letting reality become real. In the light of Bonhoeffer's notion of reality the last section argues for the reconciliation of Christian witness and participation in public discourse.     

The family as its own reflecting team: a family therapy method

Social research has suggested that people, in general, tend to overestimate their skills and abilities. Interestingly, research has found that peers are better predictors of a person's behaviour than self‐assessment, suggesting that others know us better than we know ourselves. Family therapists should be aware that family members might not give accurate accounts of themselves. In order to overcome this problem, therapists should incorporate peer assessments into therapy. Reflecting teams and videotaping do incorporate peer assessments, yet these methods can be impractical. This article describes a method of family therapy using enactments as a means of setting up the family as its own reflecting team. The method suggests that the family and therapist switch roles several times during the enactment, and then encourages a discussion on the peer observations on how each person addresses a problem in the family. Case examples illustrate how feedback from peers promotes insights.     

Behavioral Confirmation in Children's Interactions with Peers

This study explored the hypothesis that behavioral confirmation can occur in peer interaction as a result of children's stereotype-based expectancies about non-agemate peers. Pairs of second and fourth-grade children played a decision-making game. Before the game, one child was led to believe that his or her partner was either 2 years younger or 2 years older than himself or herself. All children varied their behavior as a function of their partners. When girls interacted with a "younger" peer they controlled the interaction, but exerted little control when interacting with an "older" peer. Boys varied their behavior as a function of their partner's label, but not in the same manner as did girls. Following the interaction, children chose easier games to play than girls who were labelled as older, suggesting that the expectations of the other child was internalized. Results are discussed in terms of the influence that expectations have on children's interactions with peers.     

Effects of Video Modeling and Feedback on Mothers' Implementation of Peer‐to‐Peer Manding

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit deficits in appropriate requesting such as manding to peers. Experiment 1 used feedback and modeling to train three mothers to increase manding between three children with ASD and their typical siblings or peers. Video modeling and feedback increased the mother's correct implementation of the treatment but a causal relation was not established over the children's manding. Experiment 2 aimed to address the lack of functional control observed in the children's data using a partial component analysis. For one of the children there was a functional relation between the materials' location, which appeared to act as a motivating operation. When Sam's mother positioned the materials correctly his manding increased. These data indicated that a simple training protocol could be used to train caregivers to implement a complex social skill such as peer‐to‐peer interaction. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sex differences in children's discrepant perceptions of peer acceptance

Sex differences in children's play patterns during middle childhood are thought to promote greater awareness of social acceptance among girls compared with boys. The present study posited that girls are more discerning of peer acceptance than are boys; however, these sex differences were predicted to vary depending on how discrepant perceptions were assessed (i.e., inaccuracy versus bias). Additional differences were expected if children perceived acceptance by same- versus opposite-sex peers. Participants were 912 third through fifth graders (420 girls and 492 boys). Consistent with predictions, boys were more inaccurate than girls, but only for perceived acceptance by same-sex peers. As expected, girls were more negatively biased than boys, but only for perceived acceptance by opposite-sex peers. Results did not support the hypothesis that boys have more positively biased perceptions of peer acceptance than girls. Overall, these findings raise important issues regarding the evaluation of children's discrepant self-perceptions of peer acceptance.