CHILDRENS GOALS AND STRATEGIES IN PEER CONFLICT SITUATIONS

This study was designed to investigate whether children's goals in pee r conflict situations are related to the strategies they propose for r esolving conflicts and to learn how children's strategies relate to th eir acceptance by the peer group. Fourth-through sixth-grade children (80 boys, 62 girls) were asked about their goals and strategies in res ponse to 12 hypothetical peer conflict situations. Results indicated t hat children's strategies for responding to peer conflicts differed ac cording to their goal orientation. Furthermore, children's selection o f strategies correlated with peer acceptance, although the linkages we re different for boys and girls. Peer acceptance was negatively relate d to hostile/coercive strategies for girls, and negatively to adult-se eking strategies for boys. Implications of the present findings for so cial skills intervention are discussed.