Abstract: The stability of peer relationship was a fundamental question that was inherently appealing to developmental psychologists.In preschool years,group relations in peers began and peer relationship consolidated. The present longitudinal study examined the stability of preschooler's peer relationship.By studying the stability of peer relationship,we gained insight into questions regarding the degree to which the stability of continuous variables in peer relations,and especially whether the social preference development changed across early childhood. The author determined a sample of 71 preschool-aged children(40 boys,31 girls;M age=46.42 months), who came from three classes in different time points that the first class was from 2004 to 2006,the second class was from 2005 to 2007,and the third class was from 2006 to 2008.Children completed peer nomination for 3 successive years from grade 1 to grade 3. Results indicated that long-term stability of four continuous dimensions of peer relationship(peer acceptance, peer rejection,social preference,and social impact)was influenced by 2 factors:children's age and the length of the time interval.Four continuous dimensions of peer relationship had moderate stability(r=0.41～0.59) between grade 2 and grade 3.Social preference had moderate stability(r=0.31～0.59)from grade 1 to grade 3. Peer acceptance had moderate stability(r=0.37)between grade 1 and grade 2.Other dimensions had no significant correlations among three grades.Grade 2 was the transition of peer relationship in preschool years. Using a clustering technique,the study identified four groups of children with distinct longitudinal profiles of social preference development-a stable average group(64.79%),an unstable popular group(15.49%),an unstable unpopular group(12.68%),and an unstable group from average to popular(7.04%).The result indicated that 64.79% children'social preference kept stable for three years. In this experiment,the effect of gender on social preference was significant(F(1,70)=11.970,p<0.05), while the other two effects were not significant.So girls were more popular than boys consistently in three years. There was no significant gender and age difference on social impact. Conclusions:The current study provided evidence for moderate stability of peer status in preschool years,and girls were more popular than boys.The result suggested that grade 2 was the key time for the stability of peer relationship.

Key words: Preschooler, Peer Relationship, Peer nomination, Stability