Features of Play in Peer-Rejected Preschoolers

This article explores features of play in peerrejected (ignored and rejected) children of preschool age; it compares the characteristics of play of these children with their personality features. The study used projective techniques as well as observations of children's play and behaviour in various situations. It revealed that the structural elements of play (i.e. plot, role), the organization of play space and the types of preferred toys and games in peerrejected children are different from the ones in control group children. The authors conclude that the main content of play in peerrejected children is not the modeling of social (e.g. family and professional) relations existing in a grown up world, but living through the affective interpersonal relations.

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