Young Argentine Children’s Attributions about Hypothetical Socially Withdrawn Peers

Abstract

This study assessed young children’s attributions about different subtypes of hypothetical socially withdrawn peers. Participants were N = 114 (56% boys, M_age= 60.53 months, SD = 7.58) children attending urban public kindergartens in Mendoza, Argentina. Children were presented with vignettes describing hypothetical shy, unsociable, aggressive, and socially competent peers, and were asked a series of questions to assess their attributions toward each behavior. The results indicated that Argentine children characterized hypothetical unsociable peers as behaving with greater intentionality and lesser social motivations than shy children. No differences were found between the unsociable and shy hypothetical peers regarding the attributions of sympathy, affiliative preference, negative impact and social standing in the class. These findings provide some of the first evidence about Argentine children understanding of social withdrawal. Results are discussed in terms of the possible cultural meanings and implications of these behaviors.

Keywords:

• Social withdrawal
• shyness
• unsociability
• attributions
• early childhood

Disclosure statement

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Consent to participate

Written informed consent was obtained from the parents and verbal assent was obtained from the children prior to the interview.

Ethics approval

The questionnaire and methodology for this study was approved by the Research Ethics Board of the Human, Social and Environmental Science Institute (INCIHUSA-CONICET) and the procedures were approved by the General Board of Education (Dirección General de Escuelas de Mendoza, M22/2017).

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the first author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by a National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) doctoral scholarship to Karen N. Castillo and a grant from the Research Council of the Aconcagua University (CIUDA) to Carolina Greco and Mirta S. Ison.

Notes on contributors

Karen N. Castillo

Karen N. Castillo is a PhD fellow in the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (INCIHUSA-CONICET, Argentina). Her research focuses on peer relationships and social withdrawal during early childhood from a contextual perspective.

Carolina Greco

Carolina Greco is an Assistant Researcher in the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (INCIHUSA-CONICET, Argentina). Her research focuses on the study of social and emotional development in childhood and adolescence and its implication in mental health, across educational and health/mental health contexts.

Celina Korzeniowski

Celina Korzeniowski is an Assistant Researcher in the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (INCIHUSA-CONICET, Argentina). Her research focuses on childhood neuropsychology and its implication for educational policies.

Mirta S. Ison

Mirta S. Ison is a Main Researcher fellow in the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (INCIHUSA-CONICET, Argentina). Her current research explores the incidence of family and school social climate on the development of social, cognitive and affective skills in school children.

Robert J. Coplan

Robert J. Coplan is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada). His research explores the development of shyness and social withdrawal from early childhood to emerging adulthood and across cultures.