Conflict and Its Resolution in Small Groups of One- and Two-Year-Olds

Abstract

48 1- and 48 2-year-olds were observed in groups of 3 for 25 min on 2 consecutive days, once with ample resources and once with scarce resources. The triads were composed of either 2 girls and a boy or 2 boys and a girl, and duplicate copies of toys were available for half the groups. Their conflicts contained interpersonal features and were more affected by social influences than by the availability of resources. Contrary to expectations, scarcity of resources did not result in increased conflict. In fact, 2-year-olds were more likely to resolve conflict by sharing when toys were scarce. The provision of duplicates decreased the probability of conflict, but many conflicts occurred even when a duplicate was easily accessible. The form of conflict depended on the children's age and the gender composition of the group. Older children and groups dominated by boys, relative to younger children and groups dominated by girls, were less likely to use force and more likely to resolve disputes in prosocial ways. Taken together, these findings provide further evidence for the social nature of conflict in the first few years of life.

Peer Conflicts of Preschool Children: Issues, Resolution, Incidence, and Age-Related Patterns

“…By contrast, 4-year-olds displayed less physical harm than 2-year-olds, but more than 3-year-olds (9.7%, n = 12). Overall, these findings are consistent with previous reports that harm, especially physical harm, was rare in conflicts among toddlers as well as among older children (Caplan et al, 1991;Eisenberg & Garvey, 1981;Hay & Ross, 1982;Ross & Conant, 1992). However, a priori comparisons for tests of homogeneity among these age groups revealed no significant differences for the incidence of physical and psychological harm at the .05 significance level.…”

“…These range from more passive moves of withdrawal from the conflict by yielding or compromising, to more active ones such as engagement in negotiations for mutual gains. Most studies of children's conflicts indicate that between 1 1/2 and 5 years of age, there is a decrease in the incidence of more insistent conflict behaviors and an increase in more collaborative conflict behaviors (Camras, 1984;Caplan, Vespo, Pederson, & Hay, 1991;Dunn & Munn, 1987;Hay & Ross, 1982;Laursen & Hartup, 1989;Killen & Naigles, 1995;Phinney, 1986;Sackin & Thelen, 1984). Thus, we predicted that older children's conflict behaviors would be less insistent than that of younger children.…”

Toddlers' Use of Force against Familiar Peers: A Precursor of Serious Aggression?

“…Home observations are often used for studies of very young children's relationships with parents and siblings (e.g., Dunn, 1993;Perlman & Ross, 1997;Smetana, 1989), but are only rarely used to study peer relationships (for an exception, see Ross, Tesla, Kenyon, & Lollis, 1990). This study thus extends the existing literature on early peer relations, which has focused primarily on laboratory tests (e.g., Caplan, Vespo, Pedersen, & Hay, 1991;Eckerman, Davis, & Didow, 1989 ) or day-care and nursery school groups (e.g., Howes, 1988;Murphy, 1937). Some evidence for stability of toddlers' behavior in conflict with peers has been obtained in laboratory tests (Cummings et al, 1989;Hay & Ross, 1982;Keenan & Shaw, 1994), which suggests that the question of stability and change in early forms of aggression deserves more systematic analysis in familiar settings.…”

“…Interaction between the young peers was transcribed from the video records, using a version of the Peer Interaction Coding System (PICS) developed in experimental studies of 1-and 2-year-olds (Caplan et al, 1991;Hay & Ross, 1982). The current version of the PICS was adapted for use in the home and over the third year of life.…”

“…Similarly, studies of children in preschool groups have typically found more aggression between pairs of boys than between pairs of girls (e.g., in a survey of English nurseries by Smith & Green, 1975), and aggression is reported to be more stable over time for boys than for girls (Cummings et al, 1989; but see Keenan & Shaw, 1994). However, laboratory studies of toddlers' conflicts with peers show few gender differences in the use of force (Caplan et al, 1991;Hay & Ross, 1982;Keenan & Shaw, 1994), despite the fact that mothers pressure their daughters to refrain from aggression and relinquish their possessions to their peers (Ross et al, 1990;Smetana, 1989). Furthermore, more general assessments of "difficult temperament" and "behavioral problems" show few sex differences in the toddler years (for a review, see Keenan & Shaw, 1997), although this may be somewhat artifactual: Temperament instruments have been constructed in a way that reduces sex differences (Goldsmith, 1996).…”