Children's Awareness of Peer Rejection and Teacher Reports of Aggressive Behavior / La percepción del niño del rechazo de sus compañeros y el comportamiento agresivo según los docentes

Lack of awareness of one's negative social reputation is linked to aggressive behavior among older school-age children. The present study extends this research to the first year of elementary school. The first goal was to compare generalized and dyadic perspectives in studying discrepancies between children's actual and perceived rejection. The second goal was to determine whether discrepancies between actual and perceived rejection are related to sociometric status. The third goal was to examine whether discrepancies between actual and perceived rejection are related to aggressive behaviors at school. Actual peer rejection was measured with peer negative nominations, perceived peer rejection with students' self-ratings and meta-perceptions, and aggressive behavior with teacher ratings. The discrepancies between actual and self-perceived rejection were substantial in the total sample. Furthermore, non-rejected children had higher scores than rejected children in dyadic overestimation (identifying peers who they believed disliked them but did not), while it was the reverse for dyadic underestimation (not identifying peers who in fact disliked them). High levels of dyadic underestimation were negatively associated with the concurrent aggressive behavior. Rejected children's underestimation of their peer rejection appeared to have protective effects on antisocial and aggressive problems. Findings are discussed in terms of theories of symbolic interactionism and social information processing

No ser consciente de la mala reputación propia está relacionado con el comportamiento agresivo de niños y niñas. El presente trabajo amplia la investigación al inicio de la escuela primaria. El primer objetivo fue comparar la percepción generalizada y diádica en la discrepancia entre el rechazo real y el percibido. El segundo objetivo fue determinar si la discrepancia entre rechazo real y percibido está relacionada con el tipo sociométrico. El tercer objetivo fue examinar si la discrepancia entre rechazo real y percibido está relacionada con conductas agresivas. El rechazo real se midió con nominaciones negativas, el rechazo percibido con autoinformes y el comportamiento agresivo con calificaciones de los docentes. La discrepancia entre rechazo real y autopercibido fue sustancial en la muestra total. Además, los niños y niñas no rechazados obtuvieron puntajes más altos que los rechazados en la sobreestimación diádica (identificar como rechazadores a compañeros que de hecho no les rechazaron), mientras se dio la pauta inversa en la subestimación diádica (no identificar como rechazadores a compañeros que sí rechazaron al niño o a la niña). Los niveles elevados de subestimación diádica se asociaron negativamente con el comportamiento agresivo. La subestimación de los niños o niñas rechazados parece tener efectos protectores sobre los problemas antisociales/agresivos. Se comentan los hallazgos en relación con la teoría del interaccionismo simbólico y el procesamiento de la información social

Interpersonal Perceptions of Adverse Peer Experiences in First-Grade Students.

Aim: The aim of this study was to identify which adverse peer experiences better predict perceived negative peer relationships among elementary school first graders according to sex. The peer experiences examined were peer rejection, peer victimization, and mutual antipathy; the interpersonal perceptions studied were perceived peer victimization, dyadic meta-perception of peer disliking, and loneliness. Methods: The participants were 809 children (Mage = 6.4 years, SD = 0.32; ngirls = 412, 50.9%) enrolled in 35 first-grade classes from 15 schools in 4 Spanish regions: Valencia, n = 276, 34.1%; Balearic Islands, n = 140, 17.3%; Andalusia, n = 199, 24.6%; Castile-Leon, n = 194, 24%. We calculated sex differences in peer experiences and interpersonal perceptions by means of one-way ANOVA for means differences and Fisher's r-to-z transformation for correlations differences. We used a multilevel regression analysis (nesting variables: class and region) to determine whether the associations between each peer experiences and each perception were unique. Results: Each adverse peer relationship predicted each interpersonal perception differentially. Peer victimization was a good predictor of the three interpersonal perceptions, and the only predictor of perceived peer victimization. Peer rejection predicted loneliness, whereas mutual antipathies predicted dyadic meta-perception of peer disliking, although more so among girls. A significant effect at region level was found but not at class level. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that research should take into account the different levels of the social peer system when analyzing peer experiences within the classroom context. The study contributes to sensitize teachers about the greater responsiveness of 6-year-old girls to adverse peer experiences, and it could be useful for designing interventions that would help children oppose rejection and empower active bystanders to fight against peer mistreatment.

Understanding Rejection between First-and-Second-Grade Elementary Students through Reasons Expressed by Rejecters.

Objective: The aim of this research was to obtain the views of young children regarding their reasons for rejecting a peer. Method: To achieve this goal, we conducted a qualitative study in the context of theory building research using an analysis methodology based on Grounded Theory. The collected information was extracted through semi-structured individual interviews from a sample of 853 children aged 6 from 13 urban public schools in Spain. Results: The children provided 3,009 rejection nominations and 2,934 reasons for disliking the rejected peers. Seven reason categories emerged from the analysis. Four categories refer to behaviors of the rejected children that have a cost for individual peers or peer group such as: direct aggression, disturbance of wellbeing, problematic social and school behaviors and dominance behaviors. A further two categories refer to the identities arising from the preferences and choices of rejected and rejecter children and their peers: personal identity expressed through preferences and disliking, and social identity expressed through outgroup prejudices. The "no-behavior or no-choice" reasons were covered by one category, unfamiliarity. In addition, three context categories were found indicating the participants (interpersonal-group), the impact (low-high), and the subjectivity (subjective-objective) of the reason. Conclusion: This study provides researchers and practitioners with a comprehensive taxonomy of reasons for rejection that contributes to enrich the theoretical knowledge and improve interventions for preventing and reducing peer rejection.

Aulas como contextos de aceptación y apoyo para integrar a los alumnos rechazados / Classrooms as contexts of acceptance and support for integrating rejected students

El GREI (Grupo interuniversitario de investigación del Rechazo Entre Iguales en contextos escolares) lleva varios años tratando de formular una respuesta global con el objetivo de favorecer la integración social y escolar del alumnado en situación de rechazo, desarrollando en las aulas un clima de convivencia, aceptación y apoyo a todos los niños y niñas. En el presente artículo se presenta la fundamentación, objetivos, características, componentes y resultados iniciales de este modelo de intervención que se caracteriza por ser multinivel, multicomponente y multiagente, y por combinar una intervención de carácter general, esto es, dirigida a todo el alumnado participante, y una intervención específica, centrada en niños y niñas objeto de rechazo por parte de sus compañeros. Participan alumnos, compañeros, profesores y padres. Los componentes esenciales son la formación y acompañamiento del profesorado y de las familias, y los programas: gestión social del aula, aprendizaje cooperativo, desarrollo socioemocional, aprendizaje de la amistad, los padres como facilitadores de las amistades de los hijos y cooperación familia-escuela. Aunque los resultados son aún preliminares, parecen apuntar con claridad hacia la mejora en los procesos relacionales del aula y, específicamente, a la prevención del rechazo entre iguales (AU)

The GREI Team (Grupo interuniversitario de investigación del Rechazo Entre Iguales en contextos escolares) has been working for several years to formulate a comprehensive response to the objective of promoting social and academic integration of rejected students, by providing a harmonious classroom atmosphere , acceptance and support for all children. This paper describes the basis, objectives, features, components, and first results of this intervention model, characterized by being multi-level, multi-component and multi-agent, and combining a general intervention addressed to all participating students, with a specific intervention focusing on peer rejected children. Participants are the students, peers, teachers, and parents. The essential components are the training and support of teachers and families, and the programs are: social management of the classroom, cooperative learning, emotional development, friendship learning, parents as facilitators of their children’s friendships, and home-school cooperation. Although results are still preliminary, they seem to point clearly to improving the classroom relational processes, and specifically, to preventing peer rejection (AU)

El aprendizaje de la amistad en la Educación Primaria. Un procedimiento intensivo para ayudar a los niños rechazados a hacer amigos / Friendship’s learning, in Primary Education. An intensive procedure for helping rejected children to make friends

Este artículo describe el programa de intervención Aprendizaje de la Amistad, elaborado a partir de la aplicación Pair Counseling (Consejo entre iguales) que propuso Karcher del modelo de Selman. El objetivo del Aprendizaje de la Amistad es ayudar al niño a coordinar distintas perspectivas sociales y utilizar estrategias de negociación más eficaces en el contexto de una relación continuada. El programa consiste en 9 sesiones de juego en pareja, con la única regla de que los niños se pongan de acuerdo en elegir, cambiar o finalizar el juego de forma respetuosa. Después de presentar las características de la amistad, este trabajo comenta las asociaciones entre amistad y rechazo y los distintos procedimientos utilizados para promover la amistad. La parte nuclear se centra en la propuesta de intervención que estamos aplicando, con la presentación del protocolo y desarrollo de las sesiones. Se mencionan resultados preliminares y limitaciones (AU)

This article describes the intervention program Friendship Learning, based on the program Pair Counseling which Karcher developed from Selman's model. The aim of the Friendship Learning is to help the child coordinate different social perspectives, and use more effective negotiation strategies in the context of an ongoing relationship. The program consists of 9 pair playing sessions, with the sole rule that the two children agree to choose, change or end the game in a respectful way. After presenting the characteristics of friendship, this paper discusses the associations between friendship and rejection and the different procedures used to promote friendship. The nuclear part focuses on the proposition of intervention which we are applying, with the presentation of the protocol and development of the sessions. First results and limitations are mentioned (AU)

Social Cognitive Maps. Un método para identificar los grupos sociales en contextos naturales / Social Cognitive Maps. A method for identifying social groups in natural settings

En este artículo se describe el Composite Social Cognitive Maps (SCM), un método para identificar grupos de personas en contextos naturales. Se presenta el método, fundamentos, procedimiento de entrevista, utilización del software SCM 4.0 y análisis de la información que éste proporciona. Este software, a pesar de contar con una amplia tradición, es bastante desconocido en contextos de habla española. El método se puede aplicar en diversos ámbitos, pero en el presente trabajo se particulariza al contexto escolar, al aula y a los grupos de alumnos que hay en el aula. EL SCM proporciona información sobre: a) la identidad de los individuos que forman parte de un grupo de iguales y las personas con las que cada individuo está más estrechamente relacionado, b) el número de grupos y la centralidad de cada grupo dentro de la red social (aula) y c) la centralidad de cada individuo dentro del aula. Por último se comentan los resultados obtenidos en estudios que han utilizado este método y se proporciona información sobre su validez, fiabilidad y generalización (AU)

This article describes the composite Social-Cognitive Map (SCM), a user-friendly method to identify groups of persons in natural settings. The method is introduced, with its foundations, the interview procedure, the use of SCM software 4.0, and the analysis of the information it yields. Despite having a large tradition, this software is quite unknown in Spanish speaking contexts. This method can be applied in various fields, but in this study we focus on the school context, the classroom and the student groups in the classroom. The SCM provides information on: a) the identity of individuals who are members of a peer group and the people with whom each individual is more closely affiliated; b) the number of peer groups and the centrality of each group within the social network (class); and c) the centrality of each individual in the classroom. Finally, the results obtained in studies which applied this method are commented, and information about its validity, reliability and generalization is provided (AU)