A field investigation of children's social influence tactics

This research project focused on the social influence process utilized by elementary school children. Three interpersonal typologies and extensive fieldnotes were used to record the childrens interactions as they engaged in unstructured play. A total of 87 participants were observed from five different elementary schools located in West Texas. A model of the social influence process is developed and presented that is intended to provide insight to the communication strategies employed by children. Results indicated that children typically select fairly simplistic communication strategies when trying to gain compliance from their peers. Most of the compliance targets were non-negotiable in their responses to the agents requests. Children also revert to verbal aggression as a communication strategy when exerting interpersonal influence over their peers. Implications for future research and limitations of the research are also presented .