Preschool children's pretend and physical play and sex of play partner: Connections to peer competence

Malinda J. Colwell, Eric W. Lindsey

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

48 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study was designed to examine associations between preschool children's pretend and physical play with same-sex, other-sex, and mixed sex peers and children's social competence with peers. Sixty predominately middle-class preschoolers (33 boys, 51 European-American) were observed on the playground at their school over a period of 4 months. Children's same-sex, other-sex, and mixed-sex peer play was observed, and teachers and peers provided assessments of children's social competence. Analyses revealed that children who engaged in more same-sex pretend play were better liked by peers and were viewed by teachers as being socially competent. In addition, girls who engaged in same-sex exercise play and boys who engaged in same-sex rough-and-tumble play were better liked by peers, whereas boys who engaged in rough-and-tumble play with other-sex peers were less liked by peers. The results suggest that child gender and gender of playmate are important factors in the association between pretend play and rough-and-tumble play and children's social competence with peers.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)497-509
Number of pages13
JournalSex Roles
Volume52
Issue number7-8
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2005

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Gender Studies
  • Social Psychology
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology

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