Abstract
The social goals and social problem-solving of children who varied in social adjustment were examined in the context of hypothetical ambiguous provocation situations in which provocateurs’ emotion displays were systematically manipulated. Children rated the importance of six different social goals and explained how they would solve the problems. Social adjustment was measured with rating and nomination sociometric procedures. Rejected-aggressive, rejected-nonaggressive, average-nonaggressive, and popular-nonaggressive children showed both commonalities and differences in rating the six social goals, the relative importance of the six social goals, and social problem-solving depending on the provocateur’s emotion display. When provocateurs were happy, there were few group differences, but when provocateurs were angry or sad, rejected-aggressive children: a) rated hostile/instrumental goals more positively; b) rated prosocial goals less positively; and c) made problem-solving responses that were less friendly than those of other children. Results are discussed in relation to Lemerise and Arsenio’s (2000) model of emotion and social information processing.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arsenio, W. F., & Lemerise, E. A. (2001). Varieties of childhood bullying: Values, emotion processes, and social competence. Social Development, 10, 59–73.
Asher, S. R., & Dodge, K. A. (1986). Identifying children who are rejected by their peers. Developmental Psychology, 22, 444–449.
Asher, S. R., Parker, J. G., & Walker, D. L. (1996). Distinguishing friendship from acceptance: Implications for assessment. In W. M. Bukowski, A. F. Newcomb, & W. W. Hartup (Eds.), The company they keep: Friendship in childhood and adolescence (pp. 366–405). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Bagwell, C. L., & Coie, J. D. (2004). The best friendships of aggressive boys: Relationship quality, conflict management, and rule-breaking behavior. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 88, 5–24.
Blair, C. (2002). School readiness: Integrating cognition and emotion in a neurobiological conception of children’s functioning at school entry. American Psychologist, 57, 111–127.
Chung, T., & Asher, S. R. (1996). Children’s goals and strategies in peer conflict situations. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 42, 125– 147.
Coie, J. D., Dodge, K. A., & Coppotelli, H. (1982). Dimensions and types of social status: A cross-age perspective. Developmental Psychology, 18, 557–570.
Crick, N. R., & Dodge, K. A. (1994). A review and reformulation of social information-processing mechanisms in children’s social adjustment. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 74–101.
Crick, N. R., & Dodge, K. A. (1996). Social information-processing mechanisms in reactive and proactive aggression. Child Development, 67, 993–1002.
Crick, N. R., Grotpeter, J. K., & Bigbee, M. K. (2002). Relationally and physically aggressive children’s intent attributions and feelings of distress for relational and instrumental peer provocations. Child Development, 73, 1134–1142.
Denham, S. A. (1998). Emotional development in young children. New York: Guilford.
Dodge, K. A. (1986). A social information processing model of social competence in children. In M. Perlmutter (Ed.), Minnesota Symposium in Child Psychology, Vol. 18, (pp. 77–125). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Dodge, K. A. (1991a). Emotion and social information processing. In J. Garber & K. A. Dodge (Eds.), The development of emotion regulation and dysregulation (pp. 159–181). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Dodge, K. A. (1991b). The structure and function of reactive and proactive aggression. In D. Pepler & K. Rubin (Eds.), The development and treatment of childhood aggression (pp. 201–218). Hillsdale, NJ: L. Erlbaum.
Dodge, K. A., Asher, S. R., & Parkhurst, J. T. (1989). Social life as a goal coordination task. In C. Ames & R. Ames (Eds.), Research on motivation in education (Vol. 3). New York: Academic Press.
Dodge, K. A., McClaskey, C. L., & Feldman, E. (1985). A situational approach to the assessment of social competence in children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53, 344–353.
Dodge, K. A., & Somberg, D. R. (1987). Hostile attributional biases among aggressive boys are exacerbated under conditions of threats to the self. Child Development, 58, 213–224.
Eisenberg, N., & Fabes, R. A. (1992). Emotion regulation and the development of social competence. In M. S. Clark (Ed.), Emotion and social behavior, Vol. 14: Review of Personality and Social Psychology (pp. 119–150). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Bernzweig, J., Karbon, M., Poulin, R., & Hanish, L. (1993). The relations of emotionality and regulation to preschoolers’ social skills and sociometric status. Child Development, 64, 1418–1438.
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Guthrie, I. K., Murphy, B. C., Maszk, P., Holmgren, R., & Suh, K. (1996). The relations of regulation and emotionality to problem behavior in elementary school children. Development & Psychopathology, 8, 141–162.
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Karbon, M., Murphy, B. C., Wosinski, M., Polazzi, L., Carlo, G., & Juhnke, C. (1996). The relations of children’s dispositional prosocial behavior to emotionality, regulation, and social functioning. Child Development, 67, 974–992.
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Murphy, B. C., Maszk, P., Smith, M., & Karbon, M. (1995). The role of emotionality and regulation in children’s social functioning: A longitudinal study. Child Development, 66, 1360–1384.
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Shepard, S. A., Murphy, B. C., Guthrie, I. K., Jones, S., Friedman, J., Poulin, R., & Maszk, P. (1997). Contemporaneous and longitudinal prediction of children’s social functioning from regulation and emotionality. Child Development, 68, 642–664.
Eisenberg, N., Guthrie, I. K., Murphy, B. C., Shepard, S. A., Cumberland, A., & Carlo, G. (1999). Consistency and development of prosocial dispositions: A longitudinal study. Child Development, 70, 1360–1372.
Erdley, C. A., & Asher, S. R. (1996). Children’s social goals and self-efficacy perceptions as influences on their responses to ambiguous provocation. Child Development, 67, 1329–1344.
Erdley, C. A., & Asher, S. R. (1999). A social goals perspective on children’s social competence. Journal of Emotional and Behavior Disorders, 7, 156–167.
Farmer, T. W., Estell, D. B., Bishop, J. L., O’Neal, K. K., & Cairns, B. D. (2003). Rejected bullies or popular leaders? The social relations of aggressive subtypes of rural African-Americn early adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 39,992–1004.
Fontaine, R. G., Burks, V. S., & Dodge, K. A. (2002). Response decision processes and externalizing behavior problems in adolescents. Development & Psychopathology, 14, 107–122.
French, D. C. (1988). Heterogeneity of peer rejected boys: Aggressive and nonaggressive subtypes. Child Development, 59, 976–985.
Graham, S., Hudley, C., & Williams, E. (1992). Attributional and emotional determinants of aggression among African-American and Latino adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 28, 731–740.
Grotpeter, J. K., & Crick, N. R. (1996). Relational aggression, overt aggression, and friendship. Child Development, 67, 2328–2338.
Harper, B. D., Lemerise, E. A., & Caverly, S. L. (2006). The effect of induced mood on children’s social information processing: Social goals and response evaluation. Manuscript in preparation.
Lemerise, E. A. (1997). Patterns of peer acceptance, social status, and social reputation in mixed-age preschool and primary classrooms. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 43, 199–218.
Lemerise, E. A., & Arsenio, W. F. (2000). An integrated model of emotion processes and cognition in social information processing. Child Development, 71, 107–118.
Lemerise, E. A., Gregory, D. S., & Fredstrom, B. K. (2005). The influence of provocateurs’ emotion displays on the social information processing of children varying in social adjustment and age. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 90, 344–366.
Lochman, J. E. (1985). Effects of different treatment lengths in cognitive behavioral interventions with aggressive boys. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 16, 45–56.
Lochman, J. E., Burch, P. R., Curry, J. F., & Lampron, L. B. (1984). Treatment and generalization effects of cognitive-behavioral interventions with aggressive boys. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 52, 915–916.
Lochman, J. E., Wayland, K. K., & White, K. J. (1993). Social goals: Relationship to adolescent adjustment and to social problem solving. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 21(2 ), 135–151.
Murphy, B. C., & Eisenberg, N. (1997). Young children’s emotionality: regulation and social functioning and their responses when they are targets of a peer’s anger. Social Development, 6, 18–36.
Nelson, D. A., & Crick, N. R. (1999). Rose-colored glasses: Examining the social information processing of prosocial young adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 19(1 ), 17–38.
Orobio de Castro, B., Slot, N. W., Bosch, J. D., Koops, W., & Veerman, J. W. (2003). Negative feelings exacerbate hostile attributions of intent in highly aggressive boys. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32(1 ), 56–65.
Orobio de Castro, B., Veerman, J. W., Koops, W., Bosch, J. D., & Monshouwer, H. J. (2002). Hostile attribution of intent and aggressive behavior: A meta-analysis. Child Development, 73, 916– 934.
Pettit, G. S., Polaha, J. A., & Mize, J. (2001). Perceptual and attributional processes in aggression and conduct problems. In J. Hill & B. Maughan (Eds.), Conduct disorders in childhood and adolescence (pp. 292–319). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Putallaz, M., & Gottman, J. (1982). Conceptualizing social competence in children. In P. Karoly & J. J. Steffen (Eds.), Improving children’s social competence. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
Rabiner, D. L., & Gordon, L. V. (1992). The coordination of conflicting social goals: Differences between rejected and nonrejected boys. Child Development, 63, 1344–1350.
Renshaw, P. D., & Asher, S. R. (1983). Children’s goals and strategies for social interaction. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 29, 353–374.
Rose, A. J., & Asher, S. R. (1999). Children’s goals and strategies in response to conflicts within a friendship. Developmental Psychology, 35, 69–79.
Rothbart, M., & Bates, J. E. (1998). Temperament. In N. Eisenberg (Ed.) Handbook of child psychology, 5th ed.: Vol. 3 Social, emotional, and personality development (pp. 105–176). New York: Wiley.
Saarni, C. (1999). The development of emotional competence. New York: Guilford Press.
Saarni, C., Mumme, D. L., & Campos, J. (1998). Emotional development: Action, communication and understanding. In N. Eisenberg (Ed.) Handbook of child psychology, 5th ed.: Vol. 3 Social, emotional, and personality development (pp. 237–309). New York: Wiley.
Slaby, R. G., & Guerra, N. G. (1988). Cognitive mediators of aggression in adolescent offenders: 1. Assessment. Developmental Psychology, 24, 580–588.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported in part by grants from the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation and the Western Kentucky University Faculty Scholarship Council. Principals, teachers, parents, and students from the Warren County Public Schools and the Bowling Green Independent Schools are thanked for their generous cooperation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lemerise, E.A., Fredstrom, B.K., Kelley, B.M. et al. Do Provocateurs’ Emotion Displays Influence Children’s Social Goals and Problem Solving?. J Abnorm Child Psychol 34, 555–567 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-006-9035-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-006-9035-x