Predictors of peer relationships and adaptation to summer camp

Nancy Arlene Hanna, Purdue University

Abstract

The current study was conducted to explore four issues: (1) the relations between friendship and peer acceptance in early adolescence; (2) the contributions of adolescents' prior relationships, social behavior, nonsocial characteristics, and self-esteem to friendship and peer acceptance in a new peer group; (3) the contributions of friendship and peer acceptance to adjustment in a new setting; and (4) whether the presence of a friend in a new social setting facilitates adaptation to that setting. The study was conducted with early adolescents (age = 11-16 years, N = 118) at a summer camp. The mixture of adolescents who are friends before camp and adolescents who do not know one another when camp begins makes the summer camp setting ideal for examining the development of peer relationships. On a questionnaire completed at the beginning of the week-long camp session, campers provided information about the positive aspects (i.e., friendliness) and negative aspects (i.e., antagonism) of their peer relationships prior to camp, about their individual characteristics and social behavior, and about their expectations for camp. On a questionnaire completed toward the end of the camp session, campers provided ratings of the positive and negative aspects of their relationships with each person in their group and their evaluations of camp. Major findings included: (1) Adolescents with positive prior friendships had positive relationships with their new peer group at camp; adolescents with antagonistic prior friendships had antagonistic relationships with their new peer group. (2) Campers' self-ratings of sociability predicted their peer acceptance but not the quality of their best friendship at camp, whereas hostility predicted antagonism in both friendships and peer group relationships. Prior relationships and physical attractiveness were stronger predictors of peer relationships than was sociability. (3) Friendships and peer acceptance at camp were related to campers' final evaluations of social relationships, but not to general evaluations of camp. (4) Attending camp with a friend apparently did little to facilitate adaptation to camp.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Berndt, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Developmental psychology

COinS