Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Characteristics And Qualities That Are Important To Middle School-Aged Students In Choosing Friends, Kristin R. Honaker-Carter

Student Work

This study investigates the characteristics that are important to middle school students when they choose their friends. The subjects for this research study are seventh, eighth, and ninth graders with ages ranging from 11-15 years old.

The population surveyed was limited to 47 middle-school aged children whose parents responded to a flyer posted in one of two college universities. The study design was a 14-question value survey using a Likert scale. The questions relate to the importance of various characteristics in choosing friends. The survey also included demographic questions pertaining to the subject’s gender, grade level, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and …

Development Of Commitment In Young Children's Best Friendships, Andrea L. Kelp

Student Work

Although the amount of research conducted on children’s friendships is large, the specific characteristic of friendship commitment has received little attention to date. At what age and to what extent commitment is present in children’s friendships is the main focus of this study. Students in grades 2 through 7 completed a demographic questionnaire, the Commitment and Satisfaction Scale, the Children’s Self-Efficacy for Peer Interaction Scale, The Network of Relationships Inventory, and they also responded to hypothetical vignettes. Of particular interest were the effects of children’s age, gender, friendship reciprocity, self-efficacy and friendship satisfaction on their friendship commitment levels. Analyses of …

Relationship History And Friendship Development In Adolescence, Jay L. Ringle

Student Work

Adolescents in grades 8, 10, 12, and college (13-22 year olds) completed the Relationship Closeness Inventory (RCI) (Berscheid, Snyder, & Omoto, 1989), a written relationship development narrative, and a graph of major relationship events for a designated friend in a same-sex and cross-sex relationship. Data collection was done in separate sessions for each relationship type, with order of com pletion randomly assigned.

Age and relationship differences were found for total score on the Relationship Closeness Inventory (RCI), indicating that closeness in same-sex relationships increases gradually with age, whereas closeness in cross-sex relationships does not increase until later adolescence. When asked …