One of the psychologist says that the boys and girls are
not different as we previously thought. Although girls tend to hang out in
smaller, more intimate groups than boys, this difference vanishes by the time
children reach the eighth grade, according to a new study by a Michigan State
University psychologist.
The findings, which appear in the Journal of Social and
Personal Relationships, suggest "girls and boys aren't as different as we
think they are," said Jennifer Watling Neal, assistant professor of
psychology.
Neal's study is one of the first to look at how girls'
and boys' peer networks develop across grades. Because children's peer-group
structure can promote negative behaviors like bullying and positive behaviors
like helping others, she said it's important for researchers to have a clear
picture of what these peer groups look like.
"Although we tend to think that girls' and boys'
peer groups are structured differently, these differences disappear as children
get older," Neal said.
The reason may have to do with an increased interaction
with the opposite sex.
"Younger boys and girls tend to play in same-sex
peer groups," Neal said. "But every parent can relate to that moment
when their son or daughter suddenly takes an interest, whether social or
romantic, in the opposite sex."
The question of whether girls hang out in smaller groups
than boys is controversial, with past research providing mixed results.
Neal examined peer relationships of third- through
eighth-grade students at a Chicago school and found that girls in the younger
grades did, indeed, tend to flock together in smaller, more intimate groups
than boys.
But that difference disappeared by the eighth grade.
While the size of boys' peer groups remained relatively stable, girls' peer
groups became progressively larger in later grades.
Neal said further research is needed to confirm the
results by examining a single group of children over time.
[IMAGE SOURCE: freestock.com]
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