Children's Responses to Peer Conflicts Involving a Rights Infraction.

Abstract

Examined here is whether the generalization about the prosocial style of well-ac cepted children applies to peer conflicts involving a infraction. Fourthand fifth-grade children (N = 140) were individually interviewed about their strategies for handling hypothetical situations in which a peer infringes upon their rights. Results revealed that well-accepted children were neither aggressive nor particu larly prosocial in conflict situations. Instead, they responded with a variety of verbally assertive strategies. Low-accepted children, by contrast, relied more heav ily on the assistance of adults. Supplementary data collection with 215 fourthand fifth-grade children suggested the psychological distinctiveness of rights infraction types of conflict. Overall, the results qualify earlier generalizations about the behav ioral basis of peer acceptance and suggest the need for situation-specific assess ments of children's social competence.