This study investigates whether preschool-aged children show consistent patterns of behaviour in conflicts with their siblings. Consistency was assessed at the nomothetic (i.e., group), idiographic (i.e., individual), and idiosyncratic (i.e., consistent patterns that differed from the norm) levels. We examined conflicts between 19 2-year-old and 19 4-year-old children and their siblings. Both age groups showed consistent idiographic and nomothetic patterns of interactions. Two-year-old children used idiosyncratic patterns of responses to the conflict overtures of others (i.e., they deviated from the norm in consistent ways) while 4-year-old children did not. The variance in the responses of the younger children was greater than that found for the older children. Together these results suggest that as children mature though the preschool years their conflict patterns become more homogeneous. The importance of studying patterns in conflict at all three levels is discussed.
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