Boys' rough‐and‐tumble play, social competence and group composition

The intent of this study was to examine relations between specific aspects of boys' rough‐and‐tumble play (R&T) and social competence. The prime concern was to test the hypothesis that R&T made contributions to boys' social competence, beyond those made by other forms of reciprocal social interaction. Boys' social competence was measured by their peer nominated popularity and solutions to hypothetical social problems. Forty‐two boys, with a mean age of 11:2 years, were observed on their school playground for 20 weeks. They nominated peers whom they liked most and least, rank‐ordered peers in terms of dominance, and solved hypothetical social problems. Teachers also completed a temperament questionnaire for each child. Results indicated that neither relative frequency of R&T nor the vigour dimension of R&T accounted for significant variance in boys' popularity beyond other forms of reciprocal social interaction. Further, relative frequency of R&T was negatively, but not significantly, related to popularity. The flexibility dimension of R&T did account for significant variance, above other forms of reciprocal social interaction, in social problem solving. The composition of R&T groups, in terms of size and dominance symmetry, did not differ significantly from other forms of reciprocal social interaction. Lastly, both aspects of temperament measured related to the vigour level of R&T. Results are discussed in terms of specific design features of R&T serving differential functions.