Research Interests for Steven R Asher

Research Interests: Peer Relations and Social Competence

Children's social development with a focus on the conceptualization and assessment of relational competence and relational outcomes in childhood. This focus includes: (1) studies of social cognition, especially the goals children pursue in response to interpersonal conflict and other challenging social tasks; (2) studies of peer acceptance, friendship participation, and friendship quality as distinct dimensions of peer adjustment and as unique contributors to emotional well-being versus loneliness; (3) continuing interest in the effects of relational skills interventions on children's acceptance and friendship; (4) studies of children's social relationships in racially desegregated contexts and in educational settings that integrate regular education students with students receiving special education services.

Representative Publications
  1. Asher, S. R., Parker, J. G., & Walker, D. L., Distinguishing friendship from acceptance: Implications for intervention and assessment, in The company they keep: Friendship during childhood and adolescence, edited by W. M. Bukowski, A. F. Newcomb, & W. W. Hartup (1996), pp. 366-405, New York: Cambridge University Press.
  2. Erdley, C.A. & Asher, S.R., Children's social goals and self-efficacy perceptions as influences on their responses to ambiguous provocation, Child Development, vol. 67 (1996), pp. 1329-1344.
  3. Asher, S.R. & Rose, A.J., Promoting children's social-emotional development with peers, in Emotional development and emotional literacy, edited by P. Salovey & D. Sluyter (1997), pp. 196-224, New York: Basic Books.
  4. Asher, S. R., & Hopmeyer, A., Loneliness in childhood, in Children's needs II: Development, problems and alternatives, edited by G. G. Bear, K. M. Minke, & A. Thomas (1997), pp. 279-292, Silver Spring, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.
  5. Rose, A.J. & Asher, S.R., Children's goals and strategies in response to conflicts within a friendship, Developmental Psychology, vol. 35 (1999), pp. 69-79.
  6. Rudolph, K.D., & Asher, S. R., Adaptation and maladaptation in the peer system, in Handbook of developmental psychopathology,, 2nd Ed., edited by . J. Sameroff, M. Lewis, & S. M. Miller (2000), pp. 157-175, New York: Plenum Press.
  7. Asher, S.R., Rose, A.J. & Gabriel, S.W., Peer rejection in everyday life, in Interpersonal rejection, edited by M. Leary (2001), pp. 105-142, New York: Oxford University Press.
  8. Asher, S. R., & Paquette, J. A., Loneliness and peer relations in childhood, Current Directions in Psychological Science, vol. 12 (2003), pp. 75-78 (Reprinted in two volumes.).
  9. Rose, A. J., & Asher, S.R., Children's strategies and goals in response to help-giving and help-seeking tasks within a friendship, Child Development, vol. 75 (2004), pp. 749-763.
  10. Troop-Gordon, W., & Asher, S. R., Modifications in children's goals when encountering obstacles to conflict resolution, Child Development, vol. 76 (2005), pp. 568-582.