THE ROLE OF THE GROUP IN PEER GROUP ENTRY

This study explored psychological conditions affecting children's rece ptiveness to a newcomer (the guest) in a peer group entry task. Subjec ts were 93 host dyads (48 male) of 7- to 9-year-old children. Hosts pl ayed a word-naming game for 5 min before being joined by a male or fem ale guest. The hosts' pre-entry interaction was coded to reflect an or ientation toward the game (agentic) or toward each other and toward ex perimental setting demands (communal). Hosts' psychological orientatio n predicted entry outcomes. Specifically, hosts of excluded children v erbally competed with each other (an aspect of agency) more than hosts of children who entered Male hosts competed more than female hosts an d female hosts helped and encouraged each other (aspects of the commun al orientation) more than male hosts. These findings suggest that the strategies and effort required by children to achieve group entry may depend on prior psychological conditions attending the interaction of the peer group.