Psychology Commons^™

Social Information Processing: The Effect Of Affective Ties On Children's Social Goals, Amanda C. Drake

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Previous studies have shown that children’s goals are influenced by emotion and that emotions can be manipulated using relationships. The present study combines these previous findings by examining the effect of children’s relationships on social goals. Social goals were examined in second and fifth grade children using hypothetical ambiguous provocation situations in which the relationship between the participant and the provocateur was manipulated by inserting the name of a friend, enemy, or a neutral peer into the story. After each situation, children rated the importance of four different social goals, indicating which of the four would be the most important …