The dynamics of preschool children's conflicts

The Dynamics of Preschool Children's ConflictsAuthor(s): Brett Laursen and Willard W. HartupSource: Merrill-Palmer Quarterly (1982-), Vol. 35, No. 3 (July 1989), pp. 281-297Published by: Wayne State University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23086373 .

Accessed: 26/08/2013 08:31

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Wayne State University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Merrill-Palmer Quarterly (1982-).

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 131.91.43.71 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 08:31:18 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=wsupress

http://www.jstor.org/stable/23086373?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, Vol. 35, No. 3

The Dynamics of Preschool Children's Conflicts

Brett Laursen and Willard W. Hartup University of Minnesota

The dynamics of conflicts naturally arising between children in nursery school

were detailed. Fifty-three children were observed for a total of 10 weeks, yield

ing 154 conflicts between children. Conflict behaviors demonstrated consistent

patterns. Children interacted more after a conflict if they were interacting before

it started, regardless of the specific conflict behaviors that occurred. High levels

of affective intensity were associated with aggression, and one or both enhanced

the occurrence of inequitable outcomes and discontinuation of the interaction.

The use of insistence as a resolution strategy was also related to inequitable out

comes, and these both were associated with discontinued interaction. Finally, the results indicate that short, two-turn conflicts resemble compliance episodes and differ markedly from longer disagreements. Pair age interacted with affective

quality, resolution strategy, and continuation or cessation of interaction after

conflict.

Observation in classroom settings has been used for many years to examine the conflicts of young children (Dawe, 1934; Green, 1933;

Hay, 1984; Strayer & Strayer, 1976). Most often, investigators have fo cused on the rates with which conflicts occur, although some have

explored the issues about which the children disagree or the strate

gies that they use for resolving their disagreements. C. Shantz (1987) identified five components of a conflict: the issues (what the disagree ment is about), the nature of the initial influence attempt, the opposi tion, the strategies used to effect resolution, and the outcomes. The interrelations among these elements have seldom been studied, yet

This paper was first presented, in part, at the Tenth Biennial Conference on Human

Development, Charleston, SC, March 17-19, 1988. The investigation was completed with support provided by NIMH Grant No. MH42888, NIHM Training Grant No.

15755-09, and a grant from the Graduate School Research Fund, University of Minne sota. The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Mark Stewart, Amy Eas

tenson, and Steve Carleton-Ford; the assistance of Lynn Galle, Director of the Shirley G. Moore Laboratory Nursery School, University of Minnesota, Patricia F. Finstead, Di rector of the University Child Care Center, and their teaching associates; and Julie Friedman, Dale Gyure, Mary Larson, Sue Porter, and Jennifer Russell, for coding the ob servations. Correspondence may be sent to Willard W. Hartup, Institute of Child De

velopment, University of Minnesota, 51 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455.

Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, July 1989, Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 281-297.

Copyright © 1989 by Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Ml 48202

281



MERRILL-PALMER QUARTERLY

these dynamics need to be documented to better understand conflict and its role in childhood socialization and relationships. One major

objective of this investigation was to correct this oversight. Two earlier studies dealt with conflict dynamics among young

children, but in a relatively limited way. In one, preschool children's

verbal disagreements were examined in a sequential analysis (Eisen

berg & Garvey, 1981) showing that the type of opposition to the ini

tial influence attempt determined most of the remaining sequence. Insistence by one party was likely to lead the other child to respond in

kind, thus reducing the likelihood that the conflict would end in com

promise. Among these children, insistent behaviors far outnumbered

negotiations. In a second investigation, naturalistic observations were used to

examine the relation between termination behaviors and conflict out

comes in episodes of physical aggression (accompanied by crying or

anger) and object and territorial disputes (Sackin & Thelen, 1984). The

use of conciliatory resolution behaviors was more likely to result in

continued interaction between the children after the conflict than

was insistence. Conciliation behaviors, however, were relatively rare; most conflicts ended with one child signaling subordination which

ordinarily resulted in discontinuation of the interaction between the

children. The present study sought to examine the dynamics of all dis

agreements that arose, without restricting the analyses to only verbal

or physical and object disputes. In addition, the dynamics of conflict

were examined across the entire episode, encompassing resolutions and outcomes, among other variables.

How does conflict affect the maintenance of relationships and

ongoing interactions? Research with young children shows that strong associates (i.e., friends) behave differently with one another than with

nonassociates, and that these differences extend to their experience with conflict (Hartup, Laursen, Stewart, & Eastenson, 1988; Hinde,

Titmus, Easton, & Tamplin, 1985). Conflicts between friends, as com

pared with those between nonfriends, have been shown to be less in

tense, resolved more frequently with disengagement, and to result

more commonly in compromise. Continued socializing has also been

shown to be more likely following conflicts between friends than after

conflicts between nonfriends. It seems appropriate to examine the inner dimensions of conflict

to better understand these differences. Accordingly, we have studied

the interrelations among: (a) circumstances surrounding conflict insti

gation; (b) emotion expressed during the conflict; (c) duration of the



Dynamics of Conflicts

conflict; (d) modes of conflict resolution; and (e) presence or absence of postconflict socializing.

A social conflict consists of an opposition between two individu als "when one person does something to which a second person ob

jects" (Hay, 1984, p. 2). This definition implies that opposition is suffi cient to define conflict, and that the oppositional sequence may be as

simple as a two-unit exchange: Child A attempts to influence Child Β —» Child Β resists. Others have characterized this two-unit sequence as necessary but not sufficient to define conflict (Maynard, 1985). The

argument is made that the term conflict should be used exclusively to refer to those exchanges which include mutual opposition (C. Shantz, 1987; D. Shantz, 1986). These exchanges are necessarily at least three units long: Child A attempts to influence Child Β —♦ Child Β resists —» Child A persists in the influence attempt. According to this view, ex

changes which are limited to two units constitute what is better termed a compliance exchange. Although the dynamics of these short

compliance episodes are thought to differ from longer disagreements, no researcher has examined them. A second objective in the present analyses was therefore to detail the differences between two- and three-unit oppositions.

Earlier studies suggest that developmental changes may occur in certain conflict elements. We know that, as children get older, the

frequency of conflicts over control of objects declines relative to the frequency of conflicts over behavior (Dawe, 1934). Previous studies have also shown that although physical aggression as an insti

gator of conflict increases during the preschool years, younger chil dren instigate conflicts more frequently than do older children. Con

trary findings exist, too: Higher rates of conflict have been found for second graders than first graders (D. Shantz, 1986) and not all investi

gators have reported age differences. For example, a comparison of the verbal arguments of kindergarten and preschool children revealed no differences in their length as measured by mean number of con flict turns (O'Keefe & Benoit, 1982).

Social cognitive theorists have reported age differences in con flict management abilities, including information processing skills

(Dodge, 1985) and the child's understanding of conflict resolution and negotiation (Selman, Schorin, Stone, & Phelps, 1983). Younger grade school children are less competent than older children at iden

tifying the intentions of others and utilizing the information available to resolve a conflict. In addition, younger children demonstrate less advanced types of negotiation. Such results point to age differences in the contingencies surrounding conflict resolution, rather than in the




overall rates with which conflicts occur. Clearly, a better develop mental account of conflict and its management is needed. Thus, even

though the children we studied covered an age range of only 2 years, our third objective was to examine age differences in conflict dynam ics.

Sex differences in social conflict have been studied in relation to certain conflict components, but not as they relate to the dynamics of conflict exchange. The rate of conflict between boys has been found to be higher than between girls (Dawe, 1934; D. Shantz, 1986; Shantz & Shantz, 1985), with cross-sex conflicts occurring at an intermediate rate (Green, 1933). These investigators also found that, among same sex conflicts, boys demonstrate higher rates of physical aggression than do girls, although the results are equivocal for the claim that girls demonstrate more verbal aggression than do boys. Sex differences have also been found for conflict issues (Shantz & Shantz, 1985): Boys disagree more about object control and girls about person control.

In an analysis similar to the present study, Sackin and Thelen

(1984) found significant effects for sex composition of the dyad in ter mination behavior, with conciliatory gestures given more frequently to members of the same sex than to members of the opposite sex. However no significant interaction effects were found between sex

composition of the dyad (pair sex) and the relation between termina tion behavior and conflict outcome. As a consequence, D. Shantz

(1986) noted that differences between the sexes appear to reflect dif

ferences in specific component behaviors, and not differences in the

organization of behaviors within the conflict episode. Thus, we have no foundation for predicting interactions between pair sex and rela tions among the various conflict components (e.g., the relation be tween tactics used to terminate the conflict and the continuation of social interaction once the conflict is over). Nevertheless, our fourth

objective was to examine the relation of pair sex to conflict dynamics.

METHOD

Subjects

The examination of conflict dynamics is based on the same data set used earlier to study differences in conflict management among friends and nonfriends (Hartup et al., 1988). Fifty-three children (26 males and 27 females) were observed from two half-day nursery school classes in a university laboratory nursery school and one full

day class in a university affiliated daycare center. The children ranged in age from 3 years, 4 months to 5 years, 4 months, with a median age of 4 years, 3 months.




Observations

Three observers were trained to dictate narrative accounts of the children's social interactions into cassette tape recorders until inter observer consistency in identifying the children in proximity to the focal child and their main activity reached 75%. One observer was

then assigned to each classroom. Observations were conducted in

doors, during free play. The children were observed for 10 weeks in

the middle of the school year (January through March), meaning that

they were all well-acquainted. Observers were stationed on the floor of the nursery school and focal children were observed at close dis tances (3 to 4 ft) for six 6-min intervals in randomly ordered se

quences. Observers narrated a complete description of the focal child's ac

tivities, including any children who were in proximity to the child (no more than 6 ft away and not back to back). The observations were

event-based rather than time-based. Thus, children's activities were described in episodic fashion as they unfolded (Barker & Wright, 1951; Hinde et al., 1985; Sackin & Thelen, 1984). Observers were in

structed to minimize inferences and focus upon overt actions. All so

cial contacts were described continuously, with particular attention

paid to social conflict. Using this scheme, the individual children were

observed an average of 35.5 min. (For further detail, see Hartup et al., 1988.)

Independent assessment of the reliability of the observations was obtained by simultaneous narration using two additional observers.

Approximately one hour of observation per individual classroom ob server (a total of 1,119 10-s intervals) was obtained. These narrations

were gathered in the process of training observers for research not

reported here. The narrative sequence was divided into 10-s intervals

and the reliability of each observer dyad was assessed for: (a) the identification of children in proximity to the focal child; and (b) chil dren interacting with the focal child (i.e., presence versus absence of social interaction). An agreement was scored when both observers identified the same children in proximity to (or interacting with) the focal child during each 10-s frame, plus or minus one frame. (This method allowed for individual differences in the speed with which

different observers described what they had seen.) Interobserver agreement for proximity to focal child averaged

across the three main observers was 82.3% (ranging from 80.2% to

84.9%). Agreement across observers for the presence/absence of so

cial interaction with the focal child averaged 85.5% (ranging from

83.7% to 87.8%). Because the frequency of conflict on a per hour ba sis was quite low (between 2 and 3 per hr), the narrator reliabilities for

identifying conflict events could not be examined.




Coding Conflict

Three assistants who were not familiar with the research objec tives made three separate passes through the audio tapes. Instances of conflict were identified in the first pass, and the components of each conflict were identified in the second and third passes. During the initial pass, the narrated observations were divided into 10-s inter vals by means of a superimposed auditory signal; each interval was then coded for the presence or absence of conflict.

Conflict was defined as: Child A attempts to influence Child Β —»

Child Β opposes or resists Child A (see Pruitt, 1981; C. Shantz, 1987). Influence was defined as any attempt by one child to change the be havior of another; resistance entailed opposition or refusal to comply. A conflict was considered discontinued if 10 s passed after an inter

ruption without resumption of the conflict. When the conflict in volved more than two children, the conflict was coded as occurring between the focal child and the first opposing child identified. Con flicts between children and adults were not included, nor were the matic conflicts occurring in the context of dramatic play (conflicts about role assignments were counted, however). More than 20% of the observations (approximately 2,200 10-s intervals) were coded in

dependently by a second coder, without prior knowledge as to which records were being examined. Kappa coefficients for conflict identifi cation ranged from .80 to .87, with a mean of .82.

The three coders were then switched to different classes. Using

the previous coding sheets, they returned to each conflict identified. Five components of each conflict were then coded (with mean kappa coefficients given in parentheses):

1. Conflict issues (.95) were coded as either possessions or be havioral control (a child's actions).

2. Termination strategy (.85) described the behavior immediately prior to the cessation of the conflict, including standing firm (insist ence on original goal); negotiation; disengagement (mutual turning away or distraction); or intervention by a third party.

3. Conflict outcome (.78) described the degree of equality of the solution: Winners/losers (one child obtains a desired objective while the other does not); partial equality (each child obtains something de sirable but not equitable); or compromise. Partially equitable out comes and compromises were combined for purposes of analysis since both involved sharing rewards.

4. The duration of the conflict (1.00) was either 10 s or less or more than 10 s.

5. Affective intensity (.75) of the conflict was coded with a global 5-point rating scale that ranged from low through medium to high.




Low intensity conflicts (1 and 2) were combined for the analysis as were medium and high intensity conflicts (3, 4, and 5); this aggrega tion more closely approximates a median split than any other division.

The same three coders listened to the conflict episodes a second

time, scoring eight additional conflict components: 6. Preconflict social interaction (.82) identified the type of social

interaction in which the focal child was involved immediately before the conflict (Parten, 1932). The categories of solitary play, parallel play, and onlooker activity were combined for purposes of analysis and called no social interaction. Affiliative/cooperative play was called social interaction.

7. The initial influence attempt (1.00) was coded as either non

aggressive (including grabs, or attempted grabs, commands, and as

sertions) or aggressive. Aggression involved activity by either child that was identified as verbal aggression, verbal threats, physical ag gression, threat gestures, and destructive behavior.

8. Aggression (.87) was also coded as either present or absent

during the entire conflict episode. 9. Bystanders (.68) described the presence or absence of other

children at any time during the conflict episode. 10. Teacher proximity (.91) included the presence or absence of

a teacher at any time during the conflict. 11. Postconflict proximity (.80) referred to whether or not the

children in confici remained within 6 ft of each other after the con flict.

12. Postconflict social interaction (.89) referred to whether or not the children in conflict were engaged in affiliative interaction after the conflict was over. A large number (n

= 42) of these conflicts were

scored as can't tell, so the conclusions drawn from this measure are somewhat tentative.

13. Conflict turns (.70) were divided according to whether they consisted of two units (A —» B) or three units or more (A —■> Β —♦ A ...).

Finally, each conflict was coded according to pair sex (male male, female-male, female-female) and pair age (whether the com bined age of the dyad was above the median age of 104 months or 104 months and below). The frequency distributions for each conflict

component are given in Table 1.

RESULTS

Frequency of Conflict

A total of 154 conflicts were observed involving 52 different chil dren and 98 different dyads. Thus, out of a total of 53 children all but




Table 1. Descriptive Frequency of Conflict Components

Component Frequency

1. Preconflict Yes No interaction 71 (46%) 83 (54%)

2. Issue Obiect Behavior 58 (38%) 96 (62%)

3. Initial influence Aesressive Nonaggressive Can't tell 25 (16%) 125 (81%) 4 (3%)

4. Bystanders Yes No 87 (56%) 67 (44%)

5. Teacher Yes No Can't tell

presence/absence 39 (25%) 102 (67%) 13 (8%)

6. Aggression overall Yes No Missing data 51 (33%) 102 (67%) 1

7. Affective intensity Low Medium/High 85 (55%) 69 (45%)

8. Termination Insistence Disengagement Negotiation

strategy 99 (64%) 29(19%) 6 (4%)

Can't tell/3rd party 20 (13%)

9. Outcome Winner/loser Partial eaualitv/ Can't tell/3rd party 86 (56%) compromise 19 (12%)

49 (32%)

10. Duration 10 s or less More than 10 s 97 (63%) 57 (37%)

11. Number of turns Two units Three units or more 46 (30%) 108 (70%)

12. Postconflict Yes No Can't tell

proximity 105 (68%) 45 (29%) 4 (3%) 13. Postconflict Yes No Can't tell

interaction 64 (42%) 48 (31%) 42 (27%)

Note. Conflicts coded as can't tell, missing data or 3rd party intervention

were excluded from the analyses.

one participated in at least one conflict. A total of 442 potential dyads existed, but many of these dyads demonstrated little, if any, interac tion over the course of the observations. The range for the number of conflicts per child was 0 to 9, with a mean of 2.96 and a median of 3. Of the 98 dyads involved in conflict, the number of conflicts per dyad ranged from 1 to 4, with a mean of 1.57 and a median of 2.

Interrelations Among Conflict Components

Chi-squares (2 X 2) were computed to examine the interrelations

among the 13 conflict components (analyses involving termination

strategy required 3X2 contingency tables). Although log linear analy




ses including all 13 conflict components would have been the opti mal statistical method, multiple chi-squares were used because of the

relatively small frequency of conflicts in relation to the number of variables examined (Green, 1988). Seventeen coefficients (22%) were

significant beyond the .05 level; seven others reached borderline lev els of significance (see Table 2).

The statistical techniques chosen required the pooling of data across individuals. For some, this method will raise questions about whether assumptions of independence have been violated, because individuals and dyads contribute conflicts to the chi-square matrix in

varying amounts. At issue is the generalizability of the data; that is, does the data set generalize to the conflict behavior of the preschool population as a whole? Clearly, the distribution of conflicts, as de scribed earlier, indicates that certain individuals and dyads did not contribute disproportionately to the matrix.

The use of pooling and assumptions of independence in contin

gency analysis involve a philosophical issue on which social scientists

disagree, an issue that has yet to be satisfactorily resolved. Bakeman and Gottman (1986) have addressed the issue, arguing that the pool ing of individuals represents the only recourse available when obser vations are derived from few subjects, with few data points per sub

ject. Pooling data is also considered appropriate when the focus is

upon events, not individuals. These researchers conclude that,

Iri general, psychologists studying humans seem reluctant to pool data

over subjects, often worrying that some individuals will contribute more

than others, thereby distorting the data. Animal behaviorists, on the other

hand, seem to worry considerably less about pooling data, perhaps be

cause they regard their subjects more as exemplars for their species and

focus less on individuality, (p. 156)

Because in this instance, the interest centers on events rather than in

dividuals, we have chosen to follow the precedents set by Eisenberg and Garvey (1981), Sackin and Thelen (1984), and Vuchinich, Emery, and Cassidy (1988) by pooling conflict incidents in the analyses.

Conflict instigation. The occurrence of social interaction before a

conflict, as contrasted with no interaction, was associated with teacher absence, the absence of aggression during the conflict, and continued proximity and interaction after the conflict (see Table 2 for all statistical results). Conflicts in which the initial influence attempt was aggressive were more likely to be about behavioral issues than conflicts beginning nonaggressively; conflicts beginning aggressively were also more likely to end in compromise. Conflicts about behav ioral issues more commonly encompassed aggression somewhere in



Table

2.

Significant

Chi-square

Interrelations

Among

Conflict

Components

o

κ (Ν co o m CO o Tf r O CO Tt CO fi

ο ■^·

TT (Tï <Tï σι lo co

c <h e o α ε

δ

O) Φ Ζ υ c c — φ tj 3 £ 1= ~ 0>

c "O

ω <J c OJ tS) _Q 03 0J = > u 2 ·— c φ

-

s g » gel û- o

0)

^ o

I i coi 3 Q..E

s a ! 1 α; re 2 ~u y 3 '¿3 tn 03 DO^ «Λ ·— >^ Φ ΟΟνΠ — — Cû ι— < <

α> Ε o 53 e c

_ o ¿ _Q o o Ε υ ra c ü ¿¿ L. τ i: i: λ λ ÜJ ̂ ^ O O h- O Ω Ζ CL CL

r^(Nfnrtiri^KCOUÌOr^(NfÒ

<v

- Β u «>

"il

O Q_ eu

>-~Ό DO w

Β * ra LH

τ— " u c c O Π3 ■5 ̂

·- c E a> i_ a; Ä 1 DO ςη .E -Û _> "Ό Ο Φ > έ C — > QJ i/i a ^ 2 ω -*— ·κ ^ a; o t/> <υ* υ ■£ X - ^ .E ^ -r-1 ·*-> <u O <U CU υ ό_ξ <+= υ φ .E o ^ <-> t"! U (TJ vil i- C ö O o M- (J U M—

3 ° V

-2 5 a m-o £ 5 c «J = o Τ uí r: 03 i «

ε H

Ο υ CD «/> «/>

ο

ν

1?

TJ O

ο. * -C 2

0) </> a; vt X

M— QJ °

E a; £ s-g

a> a; ςΛ

δ

ν DO a> 73 i D OJ ο. *

"σ * Qj u— o c o u

LO Ο O w aj

k_ a;

r&EV > a; < "O 3 c Q. *




the exchange than conflicts about objects. Absence of both teacher and child bystanders was associated with continued interaction after the conflict. Finally, teachers were marginally more likely to be pres ent during conflicts lasting longer than 10 s than during shorter ones.

Affect. The presence of aggression during a conflict was more

likely during conflicts with medium or high levels of affective intensity than among low intensity disagreements, ρ = .06, and more likely be tween children who did not remain together after the conflict. Con flicts characterized by medium or high levels of affective intensity, as

compared to low intensity conflicts, were also more likely to have

winner/loser outcomes, to be 10 s or longer in duration, and to result in discontinued proximity and social interaction after the conflict.

Resolution. Conflicts resolved by insistence, as contrasted with those resolved by negotiation or disengagement (note that negotia tion was relatively rare), were more likely to result in winner/loser outcomes, and in separation after the conflict was over, ρ = .08. Conflict outcomes producing winners and losers were associated with discontinuation of interaction between children after the conflict, ρ = .08.

After the conflict. Children's remaining in proximity with one an other after the conflict was significantly related to their continued in teraction after the conflict.

Conflict Turns

Two-turn conflicts were found to differ from those involving three or more turns on several dimensions (see Table 2). Short, two turn conflicts, in contrast to longer disagreements, were significantly more likely to have been preceded by affiliative interaction, to be of low affective intensity, to be terminated by insistence rather than ne

gotiation or disengagement, ρ = .07, and to be marked by the chil dren remaining in proximity with one another after the conflict.

Pair Age

Sixty-seven conflicts were observed among younger dyads and 87 conflicts among older ones. A series of 2 X 2 chi-squares examin

ing the relation between pair age and the individual conflict compo nents did not reveal greater than chance differences. Log linear analy ses were then used to examine the interaction between pair age and

component interrelations. These multivariate chi-squares each in cluded three variables: pair age (younger vs. older) and two conflict

components (two categories each). Significant interaction effects were indicated by likelihood ratio chi-squares (see Bakeman, Adam




son, & Strisik, in press) and are reported later. Examination of adjusted residuals, beta weights and follow-up f tests were used to determine the deviant cell(s), but are not included in the text.

Conflict instigation. Pair age differences were found in the rela tion between the occurrence of social interaction before the conflict and what the conflict was about, χ2(1) = 5.98, ρ < .05, as well as in the relation between the occurrence of social interaction before the conflict and teacher presence, χ2(1) = 3.80, ρ < .10. Younger dyads were not likely to have been interacting before a conflict involving objects, but were equally likely to have been interacting before con flicts about behavior; no such differences were found for older chil

dren. Older dyads who were interacting before the conflict were more likely to have a teacher absent during the conflict than those who were not interacting. Among younger dyads, there was no differ ence in the teacher's presence according to pre-conflict social inter action.

Affect. An interaction involving pair age was indicated between

aggression and termination strategy, χ2(1) = 2.76, ρ < .10, as well as between affective intensity and post-conflict interaction, χ2(1) = 11.56, ρ < .001. Younger children used disengagement more of ten during nonaggressive conflicts than aggressive ones; the use of in

sistence was greater during aggressive than nonaggressive conflicts. This trend was not apparent for older dyads. Older children were more likely to continue interaction after low intensity conflicts and discontinue interaction after more intense ones, but younger children

did not differ. An interaction between pair age, the occurrence of ag gression, and postconflict proximity was also obtained, χ2(1) = 4.81,

ρ < .05, revealing that younger children were less likely to remain in

proximity with one another after an aggressive than after a nonaggres sive conflict whereas the aggressiveness of the conflict was not re lated to postconflict proximity among older children.

Resolution. An interaction was found for pair age, termination

strategy, and the aggressiveness of the initial influence attempt, χ2(1) = 5.77, ρ < .05. Younger children always used insistence when con

flicts began aggressively, but did so less often when conflicts began

nonaggressively. Older children did not differentiate between termi

nation strategies according to the nature of the initial influence at

tempt. An interaction was also indicated between pair age, termina

tion strategy, and postconflict proximity, χ2(1) = 6.48, ρ < .05.

Younger children were more likely to remain in proximity after a con

flict terminated by disengagement than one terminated by insistence,




whereas older ones showed no relation between strategy and proxim ity after the conflict.

Conflict turns. Pair age differences were also found in the rela

tions between conflict turns and the initial influence attempt, χ2(1) = 4.15, ρ < .05, postconflict proximity, χ2(1) = 3.84, ρ < .05, and

postconflict social interaction, χ2(1) = 5.51, ρ < .05. Older dyads were more likely to remain in proximity to and interact with each

other after two-turn conflicts than after longer ones. The conflict turns

of younger children did not differ according to postconflict relations.

Conflicts between younger children that began aggressively were

more likely to be two-turn rather than three-turn conflicts; nonaggres sive conflicts, by contrast, were more likely to be three-turn rather

than two-turn. The conflict turns of older children did not differ ac

cording to the aggressiveness with which the disagreements began.

Pair Sex

There were 46 conflicts involving male dyads, 55 involving fe

male dyads, and 53 involving cross-sex dyads. A series of 3 X 2 chi

square analyses examining the relation between pair sex and conflict

components did not reveal greater than chance differences. Log linear

analyses were also performed to determine if there was an interaction

between pair sex and component interrelations. Each of these analy ses was a multivariate chi-square with three pair sex categories and

two conflict components, each with two categories. These analyses did not reveal greater than chance differences, either.

DISCUSSION

Consistent with earlier studies (Hay, 1984; C. Shantz, 1987), most conflicts that were observed were brief and lacked aggression. They were resolved without adult intervention by insistence and resulted in

winner/loser outcomes, with the children remaining together after the conflict. One of the strongest predictors of behavior after the con flict was whether or not the children were interacting affiliatively be fore it began. Children who were interacting before the conflict tended to continue interacting after the conflict, regardless of the spe cific conflict behaviors that occurred. Social interaction before the

conflict was unrelated, however, to other conflict behaviors with the

exception of aggression; dyads who were interacting affiliatively prior to a conflict were less likely to display aggression during it.




Several null findings merit mention. The presence of teacher or child bystanders was associated with few significant results. The na ture of the initial influence attempt and the conflict issue also were unrelated to behavior during the conflict episode, although conflicts which began with aggression were more often focused on behavioral issues than on objects.

Within the disagreement, several components were significantly related. Aggression was associated with high levels of affect. The affective measures, however, were unrelated to the resolution tactics used to terminate the conflict. The use of insistence to terminate con flict was more likely to result in inequitable outcomes than disengage ment, and inequitable outcomes were, in turn, associated with dis continued interaction between the children. This finding is consistent with previous research showing that nonconciliatory resolution be haviors result in discontinuation of social interaction (Sackin & The

len, 1984). The results support the C. Shantz (1987) argument that two-turn

disagreements resemble compliance episodes, and that these dis

agreements differ from longer ones. Two-turn disagreements were found predominately between children who were interacting prior to the disagreement. These conflicts were usually of low intensity and tended to be resolved by insistence with the children remaining to

gether afterwards. The age differences obtained are not easy to interpret. First, age

differences in the overall occurrence of the various separate con flict components were not evident. Significant interactions, however, were obtained between dyadic age and component interrelations. The most important relations varying with age were those between affec tive indices, resolution styles, and continued interaction. Younger children demonstrated a constrained use of disengagement. The

younger dyads used this resolution strategy more frequently than older

dyads during nonaggressive conflicts, whereas during aggressive con flicts they relied upon insistence. In contrast, older children demon strated similar resolution strategies regardless of the presence or ab sence of aggression. What seemed to determine whether older children continued their interaction was the intensity of the conflict. After short, two-turn conflicts of low intensity, older children re mained together rather than separated.

Although the age range covered in this investigation was small, a

developmental trend appeared to emerge. Younger dyads demon strated high levels of conciliatory resolution behaviors during those conflicts which least needed them, in otherwords, in conflicts that did not involve aggression. Apparently, young children fail to recognize




the importance of the magnitude of the disagreement, and abandon conciliation for insistence during the heat of aggressive conflicts. Cu

riously, the younger dyads seemed to demand conciliation in order to continue their interaction, a behavior which occurred almost exclu

sively during nonaggressive conflicts. Whereas younger children used

disengagement for nonaggressive conflicts, the older children tended to resolve these disagreements by insistence. The older children ap peared more tolerant of insistence when the affective level of the conflict was low and presumably not much was at stake.

This pattern is similar to results reported by Gottman (1983), who examined the formation of friendships among young children. Chil dren who did not form friendships were found to use stronger conflict resolution tactics than did children who formed friendships, partially because the latter used weak demands more effectively. In work with

adults, Deutsch (1973) asserted that the use of cooperation and nego tiation results in the most productive (i.e. equitable) conflict resolu tions. The results of the present investigations lead us to postulate a

developmental change in the ability to negotiate. Recognizing the need for some productive form of resolution, but as yet unskilled in

negotiation tactics, these older children simply walk away or drop dis

agreements. Research spanning a greater age range is required to test this notion.

Contrary to previous research (Dawe, 1934; Green, 1933; D.

Shantz, 1986; Shantz & Shantz, 1985), no sex differences were found in the issues that children disagreed about, the total amount of con

flict, or the use of aggression. However, the failure to find an interac tion between sex and conflict components is consistent with previous results (Sackin & Thelen, 1984).

In conclusion, the results demonstrate a consistent pattern of conflict dynamics. Children tended to remain together after a conflict if they were interacting before it. A string of interrelated behaviors were observed, with high levels of affect and aggression related to

"standing firm" and inequitable outcomes, followed by a discontinua tion of interaction. In addition, short, two-turn conflicts differed de

monstrably from longer disagreements. There were also age differ ences in conflict dynamics. Older children appeared to be more

willing to continue their interactions as long as the conflict was not too affectively "hot." Younger children, by contrast, were much less

flexible in their conflict management, perhaps indicating a develop mental deficit in interpersonal skills or understanding.




REFERENCES

BAKEMAN, R.; ADAMSON, L. B., & STRISIK, P. (in press). Lags and logs. In M. H. Bornstein & J. Bruner (Eds.), Interaction in human development. Hillsdale, NJ: Erl baum.

BAKEMAN, R.( & GOTTMAN, J. M. (1986). Observing interaction: An introduction to

sequential analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

BARKER, R. G., & WRIGHT, H. F. (1951). Midwest and its children. New York: Harper.

DAWE, H. C. (1934). An analysis of two hundred quarrels of preschool children. Child

Development, 5, 139-157.

DEUTSCH, M. (1973). The resolution of conflict. New Haven, CT: Yale.

DODGE, K. A. (1985). A social information processing model of social competence in children. In M. Perlmutter (Ed.), Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology, (Vol. 18, pp. 77-126). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

EISENBERG, A. R., & GARVEY, C. (1981). Children's use of verbal strategies in resolv

ing conflicts. Discourse Processes, 4, 149-170.

GOTTMAN, J. M. (1983). How children become friends. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 4S3(Serial No. 201).

GREEN, E. H. (1933). Friendship and quarrels among preschool children. Child Devel

opment, 4, 237-252.

GREEN, J. A. (1988). Loglinear analysis of cross-classified ordinal data: Applications in

developmental research. Child Development, 59, 1-25.

HARTUP, W. W., LAURSEN, B., STEWART, M. I., & EASTENSON, A. (1988). Conflict and the friendship relations of young children. Child Development, 59, 1590-1600.

HAY, D. F. (1984). Social conflict in early childhood. In G. Whitehurst (Ed.), Annals of Child Development, (Vol. 1, pp. 1-44). Greenwich, CT: JAI.

HINDE, R. Α., TITMUS, G., EASTON, D., & TAMPLIN, Α. (1985). Incidence of "friend

ship" and behavior with strong associates versus non-associates in preschoolers. Child Development, 56, 234-245.

MAYNARD, D. W. (1985). How children start arguments. Language and Society, 14, 1-29. *··

O'KEEFE, B. J., & BENOIT, P. J. (1982). Children's arguments. In J. Cox & C. Willard

(Eds.), Advances in argumentation theory and research (pp. 3-23). Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University.

PARTEN, Μ. Β. (1932). Social participation among preschool children, journal of Ab normal and Social Psychology, 27, 243-269.

PRUITT, D. G. (1981). Negotiation behavior. New York: Academic Press.

SACKIN, S., & THELEN, E. (1984). An ethological study of peaceful associative out comes to conflict in preschool children. Child Development, 55,1098-1102.

SELMAN, R. L„ SCHORIN, M. Z„ STONE, C. R., & PHELPS, E. (1983). A naturalistic

study of children's social understanding. Developmental Psychology, 19, 82-102.

SHANTZ, C. U. (1987). Conflicts between children. Child Development, 58, 283-305.

SHANTZ, C. U., & SHANTZ, D. W. (1985). Conflict between children: Social-cognitive and sociometric correlates. In M. Berkowitz (Ed.), Peer conflict and psychological growth (pp. 3-21). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

SHANTZ, D. W. (1986). Conflict, aggression, and peer status: An observational study. Child Development, 57, 1322-1332.




STRAYER, F. F., & STRAYER, J. (1976). An ethological analysis of social agonism and dominance relations among preschool children. Child Development, 47, 980-989.

VUCHINICH, S., EMERY, R. E„ & CASSIDY, J. (1988). Family members as third parties in dyadic family conflict: Strategies, alliances, and outcomes. Child Development, 59, 1293-1302.



The dynamics of preschool children's conflicts

Documents

Transcript of The dynamics of preschool children's conflicts