Young Chinese children's beliefs about the implications of subtypes of social withdrawal: A first look at social avoidance

Abstract

The goal of this study was to examine young Chinese children's beliefs about the implications of different subtypes of social withdrawal (e.g., shyness, unsociability), including for the first time, social avoidance. Participants were 133 children in kindergarten (n = 58, Mage = 70.85 months) and grade 1 (n = 75, Mage = 83.49 months). Children were presented with vignettes describing hypothetical peers displaying shy, unsociable, avoidant, and socially competent behaviours and were then asked a series of questions to assess their beliefs about the implications of these different behaviours. Young children made distinctions between social withdrawal subtypes in terms of underlying motivations and emotions. Children also appeared to hold differential beliefs about the implications of different forms of social withdrawal: Of note, they anticipated that socially avoidant peers would experience the most negative outcomes. These findings provide some of the first evidence to suggest that social avoidance represents a distinct form of social withdrawal among young Chinese children. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of distinguishing between different subtypes of social withdrawal in Chinese culture.

Children's judgements of social withdrawal behaviours

“…However, we could question whether this subtype would have been identified as a subtype of a socially withdrawn child. This is a very different methodology to that used by Ding et al (2015), but clearly demonstrated how in Turkey a novel subtype of social withdrawal existed (regulated withdrawal), which fits with their cultural values and norms. € Ozdemir et al used openended questions to assess children's understanding of social withdrawal behaviour and to define categories of behaviour.…”

“…Ding et al (2015) have explored young Chinese children's understanding of three subtypes of social withdrawal and the children's beliefs about the implications of being a socially withdrawn child within each subtype. Ding et al (2015) have explored young Chinese children's understanding of three subtypes of social withdrawal and the children's beliefs about the implications of being a socially withdrawn child within each subtype.…”

“…Evidence clearly suggests that for shyness and social avoidance, there are relationships with social and academic competence, internalizing problems, and peer relationships (Ding et al, 2015). Given this, it would have been interesting to focus more directly on these factors when assessing children's understanding of the implications of being shy, unsociable, or social avoidant.…”

“…It is important to understand how children view their socially withdrawn peers to understand what behaviours socially withdrawn children may be participating in that results in poor peer relationships. In contrast, researchers have demonstrated that unsociable children will participate in peer interactions (Coplan et al, 2013;Ding et al, 2015), which will provide opportunities to enhance their skills. In fact, there is a reciprocal relationship between peer relations and the development of social skills, where children who have more positive peer relations will also have better social skills (Merrell, 1999).…”

“…The Ding et al (2015) study provides a good framework to build on what is known about children's understanding of social withdrawal, yet there are many questions that still need to be answered. The Ding et al (2015) study provides a good framework to build on what is known about children's understanding of social withdrawal, yet there are many questions that still need to be answered.…”