Affiliative subgroups in preschool classrooms: Integrating constructs and methods from social ethology and sociometric traditions

摘要

Recent studies of school-age children and adolescents have used social network analysesto characterize selection and socialization aspects of peer groups. Fewer network studieshave been reported for preschool classrooms and many of those have focused on structuraldescriptions of peer networks, and/or, on selection processes rather than on social functionsof subgroup membership. In this study we started by identifying and describing differenttypes of affiliative subgroups (HMP- high mutual proximity, LMP- low mutual proximity,and ungrouped children) in a sample of 240 Portuguese preschool children using nearestneighbor observations. Next, we used additional behavioral observations and sociometricdata to show that HMP and LMP subgroups are functionally distinct: HMP subgroupsappear to reflect friendship relations, whereas LMP subgroups appear to reflect commonsocial goals, but without strong, within-subgroup dyadic ties. Finally, we examined the longitudinalimplications of subgroup membership and show that children classified as HMP inconsecutive years had more reciprocated friendships than did children whose subgroupclassification changed from LMP or ungrouped to HMP. These results extend previous findingsreported for North American peer groups.