Promoting Positive Peer Relationships: Unpacking the Underlying Mechanism of Interpersonal Competencies

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 5:10 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: Parental and Peer Influences on Development During the Early Childhood and Adolescent Years (Table 1)

Abstract

This study investigated the interplay between social self-concept, social perspective-taking, and peer relationships in fourth- and fifth-graders in the context of an intervention designed to enhance students’ social perspective-taking through collaborative activities. Multiple group structural equation modeling revealed differences between the treatment and control groups. In the treatment group, higher levels of students’ social perspective-taking mediated the relationship between social self-concept and improved peer relationships, resulting in lower physical and relational aggression and higher friendship. In the control group, social perspective-taking only mediated the relationship between social self-concept and reduced physical aggression. These findings highlight the importance of social perspective-taking as a mechanism of collaborative learning in fostering positive peer relationships in educational settings.

Authors

• Haeun Park, The Ohio State University

• Adriana I. Martinez Calvit, University of Missouri - St. Louis

• Ziye Wen, The Ohio State University

• Tzu-Jung Lin, The Ohio State University

• Michael Glassman, The Ohio State University

• Eric M. Anderman, The Ohio State University