The Effects of Peer Relationship on the Functions of Interpersonal Behaviors of Children

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Abstract
The present study examined whether descriptions of positive and negative behaviors displayed by peers of varying relationships—liked, disliked, neutral, and new peers—produced different behavioral and emotional responses from children. Fifth-grade boys and girls were orally presented with vignettes describing the behavior of specific peers and asked to describe their behavior in response to each, as well as to rate how they would feel during the interaction and how much they would like the peer. Children's responses to the vignettes were rated on four dimensions: activity, relationship enhancement, effectiveness, and reciprocity. Children indicated more negative emotional responses toward disliked peers than other peers, and ratings of their behaviors indicated that responses to negative behaviors of disliked children were more active than those to peers of different relationships. Subjects also reported more positive emotional responses to positive than negative behaviors, and their behavioral responses were rated, in general, as more active, more effective, and more relationship enhancing in the positive than in the negative situations, regardless of their relationship with the peer exhibiting the behavior. The implications of these findings for social skills training with children are discussed.