This paper discussed a stage theory of childhood, preadolescent, and adolescent concepts of role-relationships and social reasoning in friendship. It was hypothesized that these concepts develop through levels of perspective-taking, within which individuals view and structure interpersonal relationships. At level one, relationships are based on one person's subjective evaluation of interpersonal acts and on that person's perception of the consequences of others' actions for his own expectations. At level two, relationships are based on situation or context-specific, reciprocal expectations of both parties. At level three, relationships are based on the generality or temporal continuity of mutual expectations of each party across situations or contexts. At level four, relationships are based on the underlying deeper meaning each party gives to the other's behavior and on the underlying understanding each party has of the complexity of the other's values and beliefs. The horizontal correspondences among perspective-taking level, level of persons conceptions, and level of relations conceptions were examined at levels two and three. A series of open-ended, standardized questions was used to elicit preadolescent, adolescent, and adult solutions to commonplace interpersonal dilemmas. Some of the data from preadolescent subjects were analyzed and related to the proposed stage theory of role-relationship perception. (Author/BRT)