Peer Acceptance and Friendship Patterns among Italian Schoolchildren within a Cross-cultural Perspective

Sociometric choice nominations, as well as peer nominations for friendship, aggression, isolation, and prosocial behaviour, were administered to middle class Italian primary school youngsters. Socially rejected children were found to be more aggressive, more withdrawn, and less prosocial than members of the other social status categories, and to have fewer friends. The proportions of subjects in the neglected and controversial categories were very low, although the proportions of rejected and popular children were similar to those found in North American studies. These findings are discussed within the framework of cross-cultural differences in children’s peer relations.