Children's conflict scripts, an idiographic, nomothetic and idiosyncratic analysis

Abstract

Based on in-home observations of sibling conflict, If-Then scripts in the interactions of two- and four-year-old children were identified and described. These two-step contingency units were examined within the theoretical framework of the script construct. Children's crying, compliance, ignoring, power and reasoning strategies were examined to determine how they were used immediately following opposition, power and reasoning from their siblings and power and reasoning from their mothers. Analyses were conducted using the idiographic (i.e., individual), nomothetic (i.e., group) and idiosyncratic (i.e., the unique behavior of the individual in relation to a comparison group) approaches. Only by looking at all three levels is it possible to gain a comprehensive understanding of any phenomenon. Strong idiographic and nomothetic sequential patterns were found for both age groups. Idiosyncratic patterns were observed for the younger children only. Variances in the responses of the older group were much narrower than they were for the younger group. This suggests that as children mature, their sequential conflict patterns become more homogeneous. The nomothetic sequential conflict patterns indicate that children exhibit reciprocity to both reasoning and power. In addition, children are sensitive to the status of their opponent (e.g., children complied after their mothers used power strategies but less so after their siblings used such strategies; also, younger children ignored sibling opposition while older children responded to it with power). These findings illustrate the advantages of adopting a three-pronged approach to the study of behavioral interaction.