Copyright © 2020, The Author(s) ISSN 2614-7041 (online) | ISSN 2614-0403 (printed) Psychological Research and Intervention, 3(2), 2020, 62-71 Available online at: http://journal.uny.ac.id/index.php/pri The Role of Children’s Age and Gender, and Friends’ Gender in the Children’s Interaction towards Social Problem Solving Strategies in Preschool Children Rita Eka Izzaty 1 1 Department of Psychology, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Jl. Colombo No. Depok, Sleman, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia rita_ekaizzaty@uny.ac.id Abstract Social problem-solving strategy accepted by society is the essential accomplishments in the development of pre-school children. However, until recent studies, social problem-solving strategies among pre-school children in Indonesia is still rarely conducted. This research examines the role of age, gender in children, and friends’ gender towards social problem-solving strategies. This research utilised a purposive sampling that voluntarily involved 162 children 4-6 years old. Those children were selected from an intact family consisting of a father, mother and children who lived together. A hypothetical social situation dilemma was utilised to gather social problem- solving strategies data from the subjects. The data were analysed with the use of cross-tabulation and chi-square test. Concerning the data analysis, the results reveal no significant difference in social problem-solving strategies when viewed in terms of age and gender of the children and friends’ gender. This suggests that children ages 4 to 6 years for boys and girls still have the same patterns of social behaviour dealing with similar gender and different ones. Keywords: social problem-solving strategy; gender; children’s interaction ______________________________________________________________________ Introduction Social competence has been an exciting topic among parents, educators, and school psychologists across the nation. Researchers and psychologists commonly use social competence to help explain why some children succeed while others fail in their peer interactions. It is believed that through cooperative interactions in the years from pre-school through early elementary school, children learn how to take turns, share resources, form and maintain positive peer relationships, and manage conflict (Parker, Rubin, Price, & DeRosier, 1995). A lack of skill in these areas may be detrimental to a child’s social and emotional development. The Pre- school period is the stage when group games and continuous interaction with children’s peer start. In this period, children can sometimes have conflicts with each other even if they are intimate friends (Dereli-Iman, 2013). Furthermore, mastering how to handle conflict is essential for their social development because these early relationships are the foundation for future relationships. Thus, peer relation researchers have highlighted the importance of identifying the competencies associated with successful peer interactions in early childhood (Mize & Cox, 1990). One definition of social competence is the ability to balance one’s own needs in social situations while maintaining positive relationships with others (Rose-Krasnor, 1997). However, exactly how socially competent children master this balance is unclear. The balance between self and relationship goals is difficult to achieve when children’s needs conflict with one another (Putallaz, 1983). Although historically, researchers have treated positive and negative behaviours,