Agencies

Salt Lake City:

Meanness in girls can start when they still are toddlers, a Brigham Young University study found. It found that girls as young as 3 or 4 will use manipulation and peer pressure to get what they want.

“It could range from leaving someone out to telling their friends not to play with someone to saying, ‘I’m not going to invite you to my birthday party,’” said Craig Hart, study co-author and professor of marriage, family and human development at BYU. “Some kids are really adept at being mean and nasty.” They regularly exclude others and threaten to withdraw friendship when they don’t get their way. The “mean girls” are highly liked by some and strongly disliked by others. They are socially skilled and popular but can be manipulative and subversive if necessary. They are feared as well as respected.

In fact, a number of books and movies have come out recently exploring this phenomenon, including the bestselling “Queen Bees and Wannabes” and the movie “Mean Girls.”

One thing researchers do know is that childhood slights can have lasting impacts. Hart said the study may help teachers and parents key into relational aggression and the psychological and emotional trauma it can cause.