CONFLICT AND FRIENDSHIP RELATIONS IN MIDDLE CHILDHOOD - BEHAVIOR IN ACLOSED-FIELD SITUATION

Disagreements between school-aged children were examined as a function of friendship status. 66 same-sex dyads were selected, including equa l numbers of ''best friends'' and nonfriends, who were then observed w hile playing a board game (a closed-field situation). Conflicts occurr ed more frequently among friends than among nonfriends and lasted long er. Friends did not talk more during their conflicts than nonfriends, but assertions were used selectively according to friendship and sex: With friends, girls used assertions accompanied by rationales more fre quently than boys whereas boys used assertions without rationales more frequently than girls. These sex differences were not evident during conflicts between nonfriends. Results are discussed in relation to the social constraints intrinsic to closed-field competitive conditions a s these apply to friendship relations in middle childhood.