Results showed that by ninth or tenth grade, males begin to externalize conflict while females tend to deal with conflict internally. This differentiation of defense choice by sex is clearly established by the last two years of high school. (JMB)

Two studies presented 5- to 6-year-old and 9- to 10-year-old children with videotaped scenarios of interadult conflicts ending in various ways. Study 1 demonstrated that negative effects of adults' disputes on children are reduced even by "resolution behind closed doors," whereas study 2 showed that negative reactions are also reduced by…

Compared how 8-, 10-, and 12-year-olds responded to provocation by a same- or an other-gender peer in a laboratory play session. Found that responses to other-gender peer were more negative than to same-gender peer during baseline and provocation periods. With other-gender partners, participants reported liking them less, trying less to get along,…

Analyzes the moral acts of 19 dyads of 4-year-olds in a cognitively simplified version of the Prisoner's Dilemma Game in relationship to their friendship, emotions, and processes of conflict resolution. (HOD)

Children from 5 to 19 years of age viewed videotaped segments of resolved, partially resolved, and unresolved conflicts. The negativity of children's responses corresponded to the degree that fights were unresolved. Numerous age and sex effects were found. (BC)

The expectation that an effective conservation training procedure would be one in which the child was confronted with opposing points of view was investigated in an experiment and a replication experiment in which the child's point of view was brought into conflict with those of other children. (Author/RY)

Explores the differences between boys and girls (5- and 7-year-olds) in their use of two kinds of strategies with interpersonal conflict: (1) active persuasion and negotiation, and (2) mitigation without disrupting social harmony between the interactors. (HOD)

Children's automatic and reflective responses to social problems were examined. With immediate response, aggressive and nonaggressive rejected boys generated fewer verbal assertion and more conflict-escalating responses than did nonrejected boys. Similar status-related differences were not found for girls. (BC)

Examined fourth and fifth graders' reactions to completing group-administered, positive and negative peer nomination techniques. Found that no child reported having hurt feelings or knowing of anyone else having hurt feelings. Determined that the condition of minimal risk of harm, harm not greater than children might encounter in daily life, was…

The relation between conceptual development and visual exploratory behavior was investigated by engaging eighty-four 3-, 4-, and 8-year-old children in a picture-sorting task to determine whether they would spontaneously and readily discriminate between animate and inanimate objects. (Author/JMB)

Examined whether fourth- and fifth-grade children's social goals and strategies in friendship conflict situations are predictive of their friendship adjustment, after accounting for level of peer acceptance. Found that children's goals were highly related to their strategies and that children's goals and strategies were predictive of their…

Investigates whether children's use of reasoning differs in child-child and adult-child discussions of moral dilemmas. Supports Piaget's contention that moral discussions with peers feature a more spontaneous use of reasoning than do discussions with adults. (HOD)

Examined associations between children's early experiences in family disputes and later conflict management with close friends. Found that argument used by mothers and siblings that considered children's needs was positively associated with children's later constructive argument and resolution techniques. Mothers' use of argument predicted…