Peer Relations in Early and Middle Childhood

Abstract

Child-child interaction is essentially egalitarian. Some relationships between children are more egalitarian than others, but peer relations are generally understood by children to be structured horizontally rather than vertically. The egalitarian nature of the social exchanges that occur between children and other children distinguish them clearly from the exchanges that occur between children and adults (Furman & Buhmester, 1985; Youniss, 1980).