The influence of group size on children's competitive behavior

The present research was designed to test the hypothesis that children woul d compete more in tetrads than in dyads. Twenty-two pairs of male and 14 pa irs of female target children (N = 72) played a competitive game in both te trads and dyads. Consistent with the hypothesis, male target children compe ted more in tetrads than in dyads. This hypothesis was not supported for fe males, however. Analyses of the dynamics of tetrads and dyads further demon strated that based on a global measure of smiling, the emotional atmosphere was less positive in tetrads than in dyads. The causes and consequences of interaction in different sized social groups are discussed.