Children's social expectations were assessed among 163 Maori and European New Zealanders aged 9 and 12 in response to nine videotaped scenes of everyday social encounters. Compared with European children, Maori children were more focused on peers, more likely to report that they would act independently and assertively, and less deferent to authority. Ethnic differences were significantly greater among younger than among older children. Although most children responded in a manner highly typical of their ethnic group (enculturated), older Maori children were more similar to European peers than younger children, and girls of both ages were more similar to their ethnic group than boys. Among Maori children, an enculturated pattern was associated with less assertiveness and lower self-concept, but was unrelated to cross-ethnic acceptance. These findings differ from findings with minority children in the United States.
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