AGE-RELATED-CHANGES IN CHILDRENS ORIENTATIONS TOWARD STRATEGIC PEER INTERACTION - IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL-PERCEPTION AND BEHAVIOR

Two studies examined age-related changes in children's orientations to ward strategic peer interaction in middle childhood. In Study 1, first graders did to some extent recognize the pragmatic value of ingratiat ion in eliciting desired outcomes from a target peer. However, they we re less likely than older children (third and fifth graders) and adult s both to spontaneously infer an ulterior motive, and to negatively ev aluate ingratiation, when ulterior motivation was relatively likely. S tudy 2 extended work by Feldman and Ruble (1988) by providing addition al evidence that the activity partner choices of younger children were based primarily on affective reactions to potential partners, while t hose of older children were based more on strategic factors. Together these studies provide convergent evidence that younger children focus more on affective properties of peer behavior. The contribution of par allel age-related changes in a number of psychological processes and m echanisms to the development of children's strategic peer orientations are discussed.