This study investigated relationships among young children`s interpersonal trustworthiness, peer competence, and self-regulation. Participants of the study were 180 children at age 5 attending child care centers, their mothers, and their teachers. You...
This study investigated relationships among young children`s interpersonal trustworthiness, peer competence, and self-regulation. Participants of the study were 180 children at age 5 attending child care centers, their mothers, and their teachers. Young children`s interpersonal trustworthiness was reported by their peers and teachers. The teachers rated the children`s peer competence and each child`s mother rated her child`s self-regulation. The findings of the study are first, that peer-reported and teacher-reported interpersonal trustworthiness did not have significant relationship, and that teachers scored young children`s interpersonal trustworthiness as greater than peers did. Both teachers and peers assessed higher girls` interpersonal trustworthiness than they did boys` trustworthiness. Second, there were no significant relationships among peer-reported trustworthiness, peer competence and self-regulation. However, teacher-reported trustworthiness showed significant relationships with peer competence and self-regulation. Third, based on peer-reported trustworthiness, the highest group and lowest group showed higher peer competence than did the medium group, whereas, based on teacher reports, the magnitudes of peer competence showed in sequences with levels of interpersonal trustworthiness. Fourth, there were no significant differences in self-regulation among the three groups based on peer-reported trustworthiness whereas the highest teacher-reported trustworthiness group showed significantly higher self -regulation than did the lowest teacher-reported trustworthiness group.