This study examined the interchange of emotional cues during interactions between parents and their popular or rejected children. Participants were 28 4- and 5-year-old preschool children and their parents. Children were selected as popular or unpopular using a sociometric nomination procedure conducted in their preschool or day care classroom. Children were equally divided by gender and popularity. Parents and children were videotaped in two sessions. For each session, parent and child were seated facing one another and were told that they could play any game that involved the use of their hands as long as they stayed in their seats. Each session lasted approximately 8 minutes. Videotapes were coded by undergraduate research assistants who were blind to the children's sociometric status. A mutually exclusive and exhaustive coding catalog using facial, verbal, and postural cues was devised to code the videotapes second by second for the full 8 minutes. Analysis revealed that parents of rejected children displayed more anger and used more neutral cues than parents of popular children, while parents of popular children used more affect-laden guidance and apologized more than parents of rejected children. Sequential analysis of negative affect sequences revealed differences for popular and rejected children playing with same-sex parents. Significant differences were found between patterns in children's play with mothers and fathers. (MM)