Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of children’s
pride and shame on their interactive peer play, mediated by their daily stress.
Methods: The participants of this study were 172 five-year-old children (80 boys
and 92 girls) attending kindergartens or child-care centers in Chungbuk, Korea.
The data were analyzed by descriptive and correlational analyses, and structural
equation modeling using SPSS 19.0 and AMOS 21.0.
Results: Children’s shame had a significant indirect effect on their interactive
peer play, including play-disruption, play-disconnection and play-interactions,
mediated by daily stress; children’s shame had a significant direct effect on play
interaction. However, children's pride did not have a direct effect on daily stress
and an indirect effect on their interactive peer play. In other words, high levels
of shame among children led to high perceived daily stress. In turn, perceived
daily stress increased play-disconnection and play-disruption, while it decreased
play-interactions. Meanwhile children's shame led to a low level of playinteraction
among young children.
Conclusion/Implications: The results imply that children’s perceived shame
would influence their behaviors in social contexts as well as their psychological
wellbeing such as the level of daily stress.