Intrapsychic process, interpersonal reasoning, and the development of mutuality in preadolescent friendship

This study investigates the relations among the developmental levels of four intrapsychic and interpersonal processes: object relations, perceived social control, interpersonal reasoning, and interpersonal action. One focus of the study was the comparison of preadolescent children's status on these different developmental measures, in order to examine the correspondence of processes integrally involved in the expression of children's social behavior. A second focus of the study was to examine whether there is an emerging tendency toward social expression characterized by mutuality or collaboration in preadolescent friendship, as conceptualized in the interpersonal theory of psychiatry of Sullivan (1953). Subjects were 21 boys and 19 girls from the fifth and sixth grade of a semi-rural public school system. All four constructs were measured along developmental dimensions. Object relations were measured with the Rorschach Mutuality of Autonomy Scale of Urist (1977). Perceived social control was assessed with Connell's Multidimensional Measure of Children's Perception of Control (1985). Interpersonal reasoning and interpersonal action were measured with the Interpersonal Negotiation Strategies Interview and Rating Scale of Selman and his colleagues (Schultz, Yeates, & Selman, 1988; Yeates, Schultz, and Selman, 1988). The results indicate that there are meaningful underlying relations amongst these measures, supporting a proposed integration of intrapsychic and interpersonal models of social development in preadolescence. Higher developmental levels of intrapsychic processes were associated with higher levels of interpersonal reasoning and action. A significant portion of the sample demonstrated, both quantitatively and qualitatively, consistently reciprocal and mutual responses across all measures. The data suggest that there appears to be an emerging tendency toward mutuality in this developmental era. This capacity, and its elaboration and consolidation through adolescence and adulthood, may help inform our understanding of both normal and pathological personality development. The results of this descriptive study of interpersonal development suggest that more theoretical, research, and clinical attention be paid to the meaning of peer and friendship relations in preadolescence. The developmental transition to mutuality in friendship may represent a way to better understand the capacity for mature social reasoning and affect, as well as the evolution of intimacy.