Do Friends and Nonfriends Behave Differently? A Social Relations Analysis of Children's Behavior

Abstract

Children behave differently with friends and nonfriends. The goal of the current study was to examine these differences more closely with effect sizes and the Social Relations Model (SRM). One hundred twenty-three triads (target children, friends, and unacquainted peers) participated in a round-robin design during 4th grade with partial replication during 5th grade (N 5 112). Results indicated that children's negative behavior, positive behavior, and play sophistication with friends and nonfriends were significantly different, but the effect sizes of these differences were typically small. SRM was used to divide children's behavior with friends and nonfriends into three components: actor, partner, and relationship/error. The actor and partner effects significantly accounted for variance in children's behavior with friends and nonfriends.