Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

A sociological perspective complements the conceptualization of children's friendships provided by other social science disciplines. Psychologists examine individual-level traits that affect a child's friendliness and popularity. Researchers in human development consider the role children's friendships play in the transition from early childhood to adolescence. Anthropologists identify cultural factors that influence and give meaning to children's friendships. In contrast, sociologists examine how social organization and social structure affect children's friendships. The literature on friendship identifies five bases of interpersonal attraction: proximity, similarity, complementarity, social status, and reciprocity. Characteristics of a child's environment affect the way these factors influence friendship formation and stability. Since children spend much of their time in a school setting, most of the sociological research on children's friendships examines how school characteristics affect children's interpersonal relations. A major influence on students' friendship choices is the organization of students for instruction. Membership in the same grade and assignment to the same class or ability group create opportunities for students to interact. Proximity enables students to recognize similarities and differences while shared activities create new similarities and complementarities. ... log in or subscribe to read full text