1982•Child DevelopmentRequires access

Mutuality in Boys' Friendship Relations

Andrew F. Newcomb, Judith E. Brady

Abstract

NEWCOMB, ANDREW F., and BRADY, JUDITH E. Mutuality in Boys' Friendship Relations. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1982, 53, 392-395. Secondand sixth-grade boys were paired with a friend or an acquaintance (N = 120), and each dyad completed a problem-solving task under 1 of 3 incentive conditions-cooperative (shared rewards), competitive (proportional rewards), or no reward contingencies. Communicative exchange, affective expression, synchrony of taskoriented behavior, and task performance were examined for evidence of purported mutuality in children's friendship relations. Greater mutuality and social responsivity characterized the interactions of friends as compared with the interactions of acquaintances; however, developmental differences in responsivity and mutuality were not apparent in these 2 age groups. The reciprocal exchange between friends was present regardless of reward contingencies and appeared to culminate in better task performance for friendship pairs. The characteristics and function of mutuality in children's friendship relations were discussed.

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Key concepts: Friendship, Psychology, Developmental psychology, Interpersonal relationship, Social psychology, Sociometry, Child development, Adolescent development