A Cross-Sectional Developmental Study of the Social Relations of Students Who Enter College Early

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Abstract
Sixty-three students who had entered college at age 14 or younger supplied data on the number and ages of their friends, time spent together in various activities, number of times various sensitive topics were discussed, and degree of shared intimacy. Striking differences appeared during the first and second years between the proportions of the friendship investment with agemates and older university classmates. By junior year, and thereafter, however, early entrants appeared to have established relations with older students of breadth and depth at least equivalent to those already existing with agemates. Young college graduates were pronouncedly more invested in relationships with older individuals. These findings suggest that early entrants support each other during the first and second years at the university and use these relations as a base for developing fulfilling friendships with older students as upperclasspersons and graduates.