Abstract
This study was designed to examine associations between preschool children’s pretend and physical play with same-sex, other-sex, and mixed sex peers and children’s social competence with peers. Sixty predominately middle-class preschoolers (33 boys, 51 European-American) were observed on the playground at their school over a period of 4 months. Children’s same-sex, other-sex, and mixed-sex peer play was observed, and teachers and peers provided assessments of children’s social competence. Analyses revealed that children who engaged in more same-sex pretend play were better liked by peers and were viewed by teachers as being socially competent. In addition, girls who engaged in same-sex exercise play and boys who engaged in same-sex rough-and-tumble play were better liked by peers, whereas boys who engaged in rough-and-tumble play with other-sex peers were less liked by peers. The results suggest that child gender and gender of playmate are important factors in the association between pretend play and rough-and-tumble play and children’s social competence with peers.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Asher, S. P., Singleton, L. C., Tinsley, B. R., & Hymel, S. (1979). A reliable sociometric measure for preschool children. Developmental Psychology, 15, 443–444.
Bem, S. L. (1993). The lenses of gender. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Beneson, J. F. (1993). Greater preference among females than male for dyadic interaction in early childhood. Child Development, 64, 544–555.
Brownell, C. A., & Brown, E. (1992). Peers and play in infants and toddlers. In V. B. Van Hasselt & M. Hersen (Eds.), Handbook of social development: A lifespan perspective (pp. 79–98). New York: Plenum.
Bukowski, W. H., Gauze, C., Hoza, B., & Newcomb, A. F. (1993). Differences and consistency between same-sex and other-sex peer relationships during early adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 29, 255–263.
Connolly, J. A., & Doyle, A. (1984). Relation of social fantasy play to social competence in preschoolers. Developmental Psychology, 20, 797–806.
Coplan, R. J., Gavinski-Molina, M., Lagace-Seguin, D. G., & Wichmann, C. (2001). When girls versus boys play alone: Nosocial play and adjustment in kindergarten. Developmental Psychology, 37, 464–474.
Creasey, G. L., Jarvis, P. A., & Berk, L. E. (1998). Play and social competence. In O. N. Saracho & B. Spodek (Eds.), Multiple perspectives on play in early childhood education. (pp. 116–143). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press
DiPietro, J. A. (1981). Rough and tumble play: A function of gender. Developmental Psychology, 17, 50–58.
Dodge, K. A., & Somberg, D. (1987). Hostile attributional biases among aggressive boys are exacerbated under conditions of threats to the self. Child Development, 58, 213–224.
Doyle, A., Ceschin, F., Tessier, O., & Doehring, P. (1991). The relation of age and social class factors in children’s social pretend play in cognitive and symbolic ability. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 14, 395–410.
Doyle, A., & Connolly, J. (1989). Negotiation and enactment in social pretend play: Relations to social acceptance and social cognition. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 4, 289–302.
Eaton, W. C., & Enns, L. R. (1986). Sex differences in human motor activity level. Psychological Bulletin, 100, 19–28.
Entwisle, D. R., & Astone, N. M. (1994). Some practical guidelines for measuring youth’s race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Child Development, 65, 1521–1540.
Fabes, R. A., Martin, C. L., & Hanish, L. D. (2003). Young children’s play qualities in same-, other-, and mixed-sex peer groups. Child Development, 74, 921–932.
Fagot, B. I. (1977). Consequences of moderate and cross-gender behavior in preschool children. Child Development, 48, 902–907.
Farver, J. A. M., & Shin, L. (1997). Social pretend play in Korean- and Anglo-American preschoolers. Child Development, 68, 544–556.
Fein, G. (1981). Pretend play: An integrative review. Child Development, 52, 1095–1118.
Fisher, E. P. (1997). The impact of play on development: A meta-analysis. Play and Culture, 5, 159–181.
Flannery, K. A., & Watson, M. W. (1993). Are individual differences in fantasy play related to peer acceptance levels? Journal of Genetic Psychology, 154, 407–416.
Goncu, A., Patt, M. B., & Kouba, E. (2002). Understanding young children’s pretend play in context. In P. K. Smith & C. H. Hart (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of childhood social development (pp. 418–437.) Oxford: Blackwell.
Hart, C. H., DeWolf, D. M., Wozniak, P., & Burts, D. C. (1992). Maternal and paternal disciplinary styles: Relations with preschoolers’ playground behavioral orientations and peer status. Child Development, 63, 879–892.
Hayden-Thomson, L., Rubin, K. H., & Hymel, S. (1987). Sex preferences in sociometric choices. Developmental Psychology, 23, 558–562.
Howes, C., & Matheson, C. C. (1992). Sequences in the development of competent play with peers: Social and social pretend play. Developmental Psychology, 28, 961–974.
Howes, C., Unger, O. A., & Matheson, C. C. (1991). The social construction of pretend. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Howes, C., Unger, O. A., & Seidner, L. B. (1989). Social pretend play in toddlers: Parallels with social play and with solitary pretend. Child Development, 60, 77–84.
Humphreys, A. P., & Smith, P. K. (1987). Rough-and-tumble play, friendship, and dominance in school children: Evidence for continuity and change with age. Child Development, 58, 201–212.
Jones, A., & Glenn, S. M. (1991). Gender differences in pretend play in a primary school group. Early Child Development and Care, 77, 127–135.
Ladd, G. W. (1983). Social networks of popular, average, and rejected children in school settings. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 29, 283–307.
Ladd, G. W., Birch, S. H., & Buhs, E. S. (1999). Children social and scholastic lives in kindergarten: Related spheres of influence? Child Development, 70, 1373–1400.
Ladd, G. W., & Price, J. M. (1987). Predicting children’s social and school adjustment following the transition from preschool to kindergarten. Child Development, 58, 1168–1189.
Lindsey, E. W., & Mize, J. (2001). Contextual differences in parent-child play: Implications for children’s gender role development. Sex Roles, 44, 155–176.
Maccoby, E. E. (1998). The two sexes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Maccoby, E. E., & Jacklin, C. N. (1987). Gender segregation in children. In H. W. Reece (Ed.), Advances in child development and behavior. (pp. 239–287). New York: Academic Press.
Martin, C. L. (1994). Cognitive influences on the development and maintenance of gender segregation. In C. Leaper (Ed.), Childhood gender segregation: Causes and consequences. (pp. 57–66). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Martin, C. L., & Fabes, R. A. (2001). The stability and consequences of young children’s same-sex peer interaction. Developmental Psychology, 37, 431–446.
Martin, C. L., Fabes, R. A., Evans, S. M., & Wyman, H. (1999). Social cognition on the playground: Children’s beliefs about playing with girls versus boys and their relation to sex segregated play. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 16, 751–772.
Mize, J., & Ladd, G. W. (1988). Predicting preschoolers’ peer behavior and status from their interpersonal strategies: A comparison of verbal and enactive responses to hypothetical social dilemmas. Developmental Psychology, 24, 782–788.
Pellegrini, A. D. (1988). Elementary school children’s rough and tumble play and social competence. Developmental Psychology, 24, 802–806.
Pellegrini, A. D. (1989). Elementary school children’s rough-and-tumble play. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 4, 245–260.
Pellegrini, A. D. (1993). Boys’ rough-and-tumble play, social competence, and group composition. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 11, 227–248.
Pellegrini, A. D. (1994). The rough play of adolescent boys of differing sociometric status. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 17, 525–540.
Pellegrini, A. D. (2002). Rough-and-tumble play from childhood through adolescence: Development and possible functions. In P. K. Smith & C. H. Hart (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of childhood social development (pp. 438–454.) Oxford: Blackwell.
Pellegrini, A. D., & Perlmutter, J. (1988). Rough and tumble play in the elementary school playground. Young Children, 42, 14–17.
Pellegrini, A. D., & Perlmutter, J. (1989). Classroom contextual effects on children’s play. Young Children, 42, 14–17.
Pellegrini, A. D., & Smith, P. K. (1998). Physical play activity: The nature and function of a neglected aspect of play. Child Development, 69, 577–874.
Perlmutter, J. C., & Pellegrini, A. D. (1987). A re-examination of the Smilansky-Parten matrix of play behavior. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 2, 89–96.
Rosen, C. E. (1974). The effects of socoiodramatic play on problem-solving behavior among culturally disadvantaged children. Child Development, 45, 920–927.
Rubin, K. H., & Coplan, R. J. (1998). Social and nonsocial play in childhood: An individual difference perspective. In O. N. Saracho & B. Spodek (Eds.), Multiple perspectives on play in early childhood education. (pp. 144–170.) Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Rubin, K. H., & Maioni, T. L. (1975). Play preference and its relationship to egocentrism, popularity, and classification skills in preschoolers. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 21, 171–179.
Rubin, K. H., Maioni, T. L., & Hornung, M. (1976). Free play behaviors in middle-class and lower-class preschoolers: Parten and Piaget revisited. Child Development, 47, 414–419.
Rubin, K. H., Watson, K. S., & Jambor, T. W. (1978). Free-play behaviors in preschool and kindergarten children. Child Development, 49, 534–536.
Saltz, E., & Johnson, J. (1974). Training for thematic-fantasy play in culturally disadvantaged children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 66, 623–630.
Simons-Morton, B. G., O’Hara, N. M., Parcel, G. S., Huang, I. W., Baranowski, T., & Wilson, B. (1990). Children’s frequency of participation in moderate to vigorous physical activities. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 61, 307–314.
Singer, J. L. (1973). The child’s world of make-believe: Experimental studies of imaginative play. New York: Academic Press.
Smilansky, S. (1968). The effects of sociodramatic play on disadvantaged children: Preschool children. New York: Wiley.
Smith, P. K., & Connolly, K. (1990). The ecology of preschool behavior. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Sroufe, L. A., Bennett, C., Englund, M., Urban, J., & Shulman, S. (1993). The significance of gender boundaries in preadolescence: Contemporary correlates and antecedents of boundary violation and maintenance. Child Development, 64, 455–466.
Thorne, B. (1993). Gender play: Girls and boys in school. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Wall, S. M., Pickert, S. M., & Gibson, W. B. (1990). Fantasy play in 5- and 6-year-old children. Journal of Psychology, 123, 245–256.
Weinberger, L. A., & Starkey, P. (1994). Pretend play by African-American children in Head Start. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 9, 327–343.
Werebe, M. J. G., & Baudonniere, P. M. (1991). Social pretend play among friends and familiar preschoolers. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 14, 411–428.
Whiting, B. B., & Edwards, C. P. (1988). Children of different worlds: The formation of social behavior. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Colwell, M.J., Lindsey, E.W. Preschool Children’s Pretend and Physical Play and Sex of Play Partner: Connections to Peer Competence. Sex Roles 52, 497–509 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-005-3716-8
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-005-3716-8