Adolescent Susceptibility to Peer Influence in Sexual Situations
PURPOSE:
One
consistent predictor of adolescents' engagement in sexual risk behavior is
their belief that peers are engaging in similar behavior; however, not all
youth are equally susceptible to these peer influence effects. Understanding
individual differences in susceptibility to peer influence is critical to
identifying adolescents at risk for negative health outcomes. The purpose of
this project was to identify predictors of susceptibility to peer influence
using a novel performance-based measure of sexual risk taking.
METHODS:
Participants
were 300 early adolescents (Mage = 12.6 years; 53% female; 44%
Caucasian) who completed (1) a pretest assessment of demographics, sexual
attitudes, and hypothetical scenarios measuring the likelihood of engaging in
sexual risk behavior and (2) a subsequent experimental procedure that simulated
an Internet chat room in which youth believed that they were communicating with
peers regarding these same hypothetical scenarios. In reality, these
"peers" were computer-programmed e-confederates. Changes in responses
to the sexual scenarios in the private pretest versus during the public chat
room provided a performance-based measure of peer influence susceptibility.
RESULTS:
In total,
78% of youth provided more risky responses in the chat room than those
in pretest. The most robust predictor of this change was gender, with boys
significantly more susceptible to peer influence than girls. Significant
interactions also were noted, with greater susceptibility among boys with later
pubertal development and African-American boys.
CONCLUSIONS:
Results
confirm that not all youth are equally susceptible to peer influence.
Consistent with sexual script theory, boys evidence greater susceptibility to
social pressure regarding sexual behavior than girls.
- 1Department of Psychology (http://psychology.chass.ncsu.edu/), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina; Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Electronic address: lmwidman@ncsu.edu.
- 2Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
- J Adolesc Health. 2016 Jan 12. pii: S1054-139X(15)00671-0. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2015.10.253.
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