Structure of leadership among preschool children

A Escolha dos Líderes e a Compreensão Emocional na Educação Pré-Escola

Este estudo teve por objectivo perceber a importância que as variáveis pessoais, as relações interpessoais e a compreensão emocional poderão ter na escolha de um líder em crianças a frequentar o Ensino Pré-Escolar. Participaram quarenta e cinco crianças, 46,7% do sexo feminino e 53,3% do sexo masculino, com idades entre os três e seis anos, da Região Autónoma da Madeira (RAM). Os resultados mostraram que o sexo  e ter irmãos, bem como, a preferência social, o impacto social, o estatuto social influenciam a escolha para líder. Da compreensão emocional só a regulação emocional mostrou estar associada a esta escolha.

Controlling relationships in preschool children

In order to facilitate the comprehension of social structure in preschool children, our research has two foci: first, to define controlling behaviours (nonaggressive group organisation) and to determine their organisational principles, and second, to analyse the relation of the controlling behaviours with aggressive behaviours. Through direct observation, the behaviour of 90 preschoolers aged 4–5 years old during free playtime was registered. A correspondence analysis revealed that two organisational principles structure controlling relationships, one related to authority and another to acquiescence. The independence of these two dimensions suggests the existence of a social hierarchy in preschoolers’ playgroups based on controlling behaviour. No significant relation between authoritative and aggressive behaviours in 4-year-old children was detected, while 5-year-old children with high levels of authoritative behaviour were less aggressive than individuals with low levels. Our results point out that controlling activity is relevant in the organisation of preschool children’s social groups. Children’s goal development probably determines the change of the behavioural strategies that facilitate the evolution of social structure from aggressive to controlling hierarchies. We judge it necessary for research to focus on controlling interactions.

The relationship between leadership and sociometric status among preschool children

In the present study the relationship between leadership behavior and sociometric status among preschool children was examined. Leadership behaviors of 24 6-year-old Japanese children were observed during free play and scored on the basis of a 2-dimensional leadership scale (facilitation of play and consideration-evaluation of playmates; Fukada, Fukada, & Hicks, 1994). Participants were categorized into three sociometric-status groups. Children who had high sociometric status showed higher scores on both leadership dimensions than those with low sociometric status.