Explaining interindividual differences in toddlers' collaboration with unfamiliar peers: individual, dyadic, and social factors

During their third year of life, toddlers become increasingly skillful at coordinating their actions with peer partners and they form joint commitments in collaborative situations. However, little effort has been made to explain interindividual differences in collaboration among toddlers. Therefore,...

Verfasser: Schuhmacher, Nils
Kärtner, Joscha
FB/Einrichtung:FB 07: Psychologie und Sportwissenschaft
Dokumenttypen:Artikel
Medientypen:Text
Erscheinungsdatum:2015
Publikation in MIAMI:24.06.2015
Datum der letzten Änderung:16.04.2019
Angaben zur Ausgabe:[Electronic ed.]
Quelle:Frontiers in Psychology 6 (2015) 493, 1-14
Schlagwörter:toddler; peer collaboration; problem-solving task; commitment to joint activities; coordination; mothers' expectations; temperament; mastery motivation
Fachgebiet (DDC):150: Psychologie
Lizenz:CC BY 4.0
Sprache:English
Anmerkungen:Finanziert durch den Open-Access-Publikationsfonds 2015/2016 der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster (WWU Münster).
Format:PDF-Dokument
ISSN:1664-042X
URN:urn:nbn:de:hbz:6-39229644180
Weitere Identifikatoren:DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00493
Permalink:https://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:6-39229644180
Onlinezugriff:fpsyg-06-00493.pdf

During their third year of life, toddlers become increasingly skillful at coordinating their actions with peer partners and they form joint commitments in collaborative situations. However, little effort has been made to explain interindividual differences in collaboration among toddlers. Therefore, we examined the relative influence of distinct individual, dyadic, and social factors on toddlers' collaborative activities (i.e., level of coordination and preference for joint activity) in joint problem-solving situations with unfamiliar peer partners (n = 23 dyads aged M = 35.7 months). We analyzed the dyadic nonindependent data with mixed models. Results indicated that mothers' expectations regarding their children's social behaviors significantly predicted toddlers' level of coordination. Furthermore, the models revealed that toddlers' positive mutual experiences with the unfamiliar partner assessed during an initial free play period (Phase 1) and their level of coordination in an obligatory collaboration task (Phase 2) promoted toddlers' preference for joint activity in a subsequent optional collaboration task (Phase 3). In contrast, children's mastery motivation and shyness conflicted with their collaborative efforts. We discuss the role of parents' socialization goals in toddlers' development toward becoming active collaborators and discuss possible mechanisms underlying the differences in toddlers' commitment to joint activities, namely social preferences and the trust in reliable cooperation partners.