Intensive and Extensive Peer Behavior: Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional Analyses

Data on peer relations were obtained when a group of children were 2½ years old and again when they were 7½ years old. The children who at age 2½ were friendly, involved with their peers, and able to cope with aggressive peers were likely, at age 7½, to spend many hours outside school with peers, to be socially at ease, and to be the ones who decided with whom they would play and what they would play. In other words, sociability at 2½ was positively related to sociability at 7½. Social behavior at 7½ had very different meanings for boys than for girls. The highly social boys, when with peers, tended to have extensive peer relations; that is, they usually played with groups of boys. The highly social girls, when with peers, tended to have intensive peer relations; that is, they usually played with only 1 other girl.