Introduction: The Future of Research on Peer Relations

Abstract:The history of research on peer relations consists of stability and change. Even as our questions about how the features and processes of experiences with peers affect development have remained constant, our methods and the measures we use have evolved. The goal of the six articles in this special issue is to push peer research into the future. Two articles focus on well-known peer constructs, specifically friendship and withdrawal; another focuses on a basic peer-related process, specifically peer influence. Two other articles show how the study of peer relations can intersect with emerging areas of research, specifically social developmental neuroscience and the study of computer-mediated communication. Another article shows how multilevel modeling can be used to assess in a single model effects from different levels of social complexity. Together these articles provide guidance about the next wave of research on peer relations.