Teacher reports of social behavior and peer acceptance in early childhood: sex and social status differences.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation between sex, social status and social behavior in a sample of Australian preschool-aged children. Social behavior has emerged as an important predictor of social status for children in middle childhood however, although early childhood may be an optimum period for implementation of intervention programs, little is known about the correlates of social status in the preschool years. Additionally, relatively little research has addressed the issue of sex differences in the factors that are associated with peer social status. Sociometric interviews were conducted with 182 children (92 boys and 90 girls) 4 to 5 years of age (mean age 62.4 months). Status groups of popular, rejected, neglected, controversial and average children were identified according to criteria established in previous research. Teachers provided an assessment of children's social behavior, peer group entry skills and conflict resolution skills. Results indicated that rejected children were less likely to engage in prosocial cooperative behavior than any other status group. Rejected children were also rated as less successful overall than other groups in their group entry attempts, but were not more likely to display aggressive or disruptive behavior. Teachers rated boys as more aggressive than girls and more likely to use aggressive or disruptive strategies in group entry and conflict resolution. Results are discussed in terms of the relevance of particular behavioral characteristics and social skills to successful social functioning for preschool-aged boys and girls.

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One of the major tasks of the early childhood years is to learn positive and socially acceptable ways of interacting with others. As much of this learning occurs within the context of the peer group, positive peer interactions make a substantial contribution to children's social and emotional development. Relationships with peers have significant importance in the lives of even very young children by allowing them to experiment with roles and relationships and develop social cognitive and behavioral skills (Asher, 1990; Rubin & Asendorpf, 1993). Thus, peer groups are an important arena within which children can learn positive ways of interacting with others and the quality and such interactions may impact on children's later social cognitive and behavioral competence (Kupersmidt & Coie, 1990).

The role that positive peer relationships play in children's overall development has drawn attention to the potential consequences of rejection from the peer group. While most children are able to form positive and satisfying relationships with peers and friends, for some, these relationships are fraught with difficulty. Positive peer relationships at an early age have been increasingly linked to social competence and acceptance throughout school (Kupersmidt & Coie, 1990; Ladd, 1990; Ladd & Price, 1987) while poor peer relationships in childhood appear to be correlated with a variety of negative outcomes including early school withdrawal, delinquency, substance abuse and mental health problems (Asher, Oden & Gottman, 1977; Kupersmidt, Coie & Dodge, 1990; Parker & Asher, 1987; Woodward & Fergusson, 1999).

Because long-term rejection by the peer group has been identified as a contributing risk factor towards future negative outcomes, much effort has been devoted to identifying the behavioral processes that are associated with successful, or otherwise, social functioning within the peer group. Previous efforts to establish distinctive behavioral styles among social status groups have revealed some broad patterns of behavior that appear important to peer social status. For example, aggressive and disruptive behaviors have been found to be predictive of rejected social status whereas prosocial, cooperative behaviors are associated with popularity (Coie, Dodge & Kupersmidt, 1990; Newcomb, Bukowski & Pattee, 1993). Neglected children, who have low acceptance amongst their peers but who are not actively disliked, are seen to be shy and withdrawn (Newcomb et al, 1993), while controversial children, who are actively disliked yet enjoy high acceptance within the peer group, display both cooperative, leadership behavior and aggressive / disruptive behavior (Coie & Dodge, 1983). Children of average social status have general but moderate acceptance among their peers (Coie & Dodge, 1983; Coie, Dodge & Coppotelli, 1982).

Overall, research with children in middle childhood has indicated that prosocial behavior and aggressive behavior appear to be important predictors of peer social status however, less is known about the correlates of rejection among children of preschool age. It is likely that the social tasks, which are important for children at different ages, and the developmental appropriateness of their behavior with respect to these social tasks, will have an influence on the behavioral dimensions, which predict rejection or neglect. There is some evidence, for example, to suggest that aggressive behavior may not be as great a discriminator between status groups at preschool age, when children are less skilled in conflict resolution, than it is in later years (Dunn & McGuire, 1992; Walker & Irving, 1998). If intervention programs in early childhood are to be successful then there is evidently a need to identify the specific behavioral characteristics that are associated with social status in early childhood.

The aim of the present study was, therefore, to examine the broad behavioral patterns in terms of sociability or aggression that may be linked to social status with respect to preschool boys and girls in Australia. On the basis of past research (e.g., Cantrell & Prinz, 1985; Coie & Dodge, 1988; Pettit, Clawson, Dodge & Bates, 1996), it was expected that more positive, prosocial behaviors would be exhibited by popular children, that higher rates of aggression would be demonstrated by rejected children and that neglected children may exhibit lower rates of interaction with their peers. It was also expected that there would be sex differences in behavior with girls displaying more prosocial, cooperative behaviors and boys exhibiting more aggressive and/ or disruptive behaviors.