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Individual Differences in Thinking About
Self and Peers in Preadolescence: The Influence
of Attachment History
Elicker, James Gerald
Thesis. University of Minnesota 1991
Purpose:
Explore relationships between infant-parent
attachment histories and the way preadolescents
think about and evaluate experiences with
peer groups.
Sample:
46 children (23 males, 23 females), grades
3-9, selected from a 12 year longitudinal
study of children born to mothers considered
to be at risk for parenting problems . The
longitudinal study included mother-child
relationship assessments at 12 and 18 months
as well as follow up assessments conducted
throughout the school years. Selection criteria
for subjects in this study were included
attachment histories, gender, and participation
in Minnesota Preschool Project, Attachment
group breakdown by number of subjects:
- 11 - Anxious-Avoidant
- 25 - Secure
- 10 - Anxious-Resistant
Methods/Instruments:
Measurements included: Social cognition
interview, interpersonal differentiation,
depth of psychological inference, self-peer
group representations, peer group evaluation
bias, social prediction bias, level of interpersonal
understanding, positive effect and verbal
measures.
Results:
- Secure attachment subjects displayed
a high degree of interpersonal sensitivity,
high peer competence (social skills),
and no negative peer evaluation bias (performance
rating of own group vs. unfamiliar group).
- Anxious-Resistant subjects demonstrated
low peer competence, high interpersonal
sensitivity and intermediate peer evaluation
bias.
- Anxious-Avoidant subjects displayed
low peer competence, low interpersonal
sensitivity and relatively negative peer
evaluation bias.
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