SIMILARITY, COHESION, DISTANCING AND FRIENDSHIP QUALITY AMONG ITALIAN AND BOLIVIAN BOYS AND GIRLS: A CROSS NATIONAL COMPARISON

Journal Title: Problems of Psychology in the 21st Century - Year 2012, Vol 3, Issue 7

Abstract

This study aimed to contribute at exploring friendship in children from two different countries, Italy and Bolivia, focusing on the association between specific characteristics of children’s friendships, such as similarity, cohesion and distance with friends as represented by the children through drawing, and the perception of their friendship quality. Participants were 100 children (55 Italians and 45 Bolivians) attending primary schools. The two subgroups are balanced for gender and age [Italian girls: 56%, N=31, Bolivian girls 51%, N=23; M age Italian children=8.09 (SD = .74) and Bolivian children M age=7.91 (SD = .90)]. We used children’s drawings and self-reported measures to investigate the dyadic characteristics and the quality of their friendship. Results showed that Italian children drawn themselves and their best friend more similar than Bolivian children [F (1, 94) = 6.65; p<.002]. There are more conflicts in the friendships of Bolivian children than in the Italian ones [F (1, 98) = 7.87; p<. 006]. There is a moderation effect of children’s nationality on the association between the pictorial friendship features and friendship quality. These preliminary findings highlighted the importance of investigating children’s perceptions of friendship, which is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon, taking into account the social and cultural differences.

Authors and Affiliations

Rabaglietti, E, Maria Fernanda Vacirca, Zucchetti, G, Camacho, C, Ciairano, S

Keywords

Related Articles

IMPROVING POSITIVE AFFECT BASED ON SELF-COMPASSION THROUGH LIFE GOALS EXPRESSIVE WRITING: BASIS FOR AN EGO IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT AMONG STUDENTS

The act of written emotional disclosure has been widely studied for the past several decades. Yet, in spite of this, there are limited studies which examine the interplay of expressive writing, self-compassion and posi...

ADOLESCENT ADJUSTMENT AND CULTURAL SELF-EFFICACY

Several studies have investigated the conditions for adolescents’ adjustment in multicultural contexts. Selfesteem is commonly considered as an index of well-being and of the psychological adjustment of adolescents. Lit...

EXPERIENTIAL GROUPS IN GROUP COUNSELORS TRAINING: A VIEW THROUGH THE MULTIPLICITY OF CONTEXTS

Experiential groups are one of prevailing forms of group counsellor training, which is devoted to exploring group dynamics and other aspects of group work through direct personal experience. However, there is still too...

THE EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE ON KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT: EMOTION AND REASON FROM ARISTOTELE TO DAMASIO

The analysis of the reason-emotion dynamics intersects several disciplinary felds, such as psychology, medicine, informatics, linguistics, neuroscience, with a specifc relevance for Education Sciences, as it offers int...

FACTORIAL STRUCTURE AND pSYCHOMETRIC pROpERTIES OF ATTITUDES TO ECONOMIC DEpENDENCE OR INDEpENDENCE IN A SAMpLE OF bULGARIAN CITIZENS

Rising interactions of asymmetrical exchange as a consequence of unequal access to economic resources create status differences between people. In that way some people are provided with authority benefts while the othe...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP31989
  • DOI -
  • Views 350
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Rabaglietti, E, Maria Fernanda Vacirca, Zucchetti, G, Camacho, C, Ciairano, S (2012). SIMILARITY, COHESION, DISTANCING AND FRIENDSHIP QUALITY AMONG ITALIAN AND BOLIVIAN BOYS AND GIRLS: A CROSS NATIONAL COMPARISON. Problems of Psychology in the 21st Century, 3(7), -. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-31989