A cross-national comparison of children's behavior with their friends in situations of potential conflict

Dyads of 8- and 9-year-old friends and nonfriends in Central Italy and English Canada were observed while participating in two structured tasks designed to simulate everyday situations of potential conflict. In discussing how they might share a single chocolate egg with a toy inside, Italian youngsters made fewer proposals in all, but nonetheless were able to achieve a greater discrepancy between initial and final negotiating positions. Friends spent almost twice as much time as nonfriends in these discussions; friends also displayed greater novelty and compromise in their counterproposals. Italian girls made significantly fewer proposals and counterproposals than other participants in the study. When participating in a fast-paced car race, Canadian children committed significantly more infractions of the rules. Italian friends were more involved in the race and maintained respect for the rules better than Italian nonfriends, but there were no significant differences between friends and nonfriends in Canada. These results are interpreted in light of known differences between the cultures.