Hanging Out With the Right Crowd: Peer Influence on Risk‐Taking Behavior in Adolescence

Abstract

Peer influence plays a key role in the increase of risk-taking behavior during adolescence. However, its underlying processes are not fully understood. This study examined the effects of social norms, conveyed through peer advice, on risk-taking behavior in 15- to 17-year-old adolescents (N = 76). Participants played a card-guessing task alone and with online peer advice. Results showed that risk-taking increased in the presence of peers. The results further showed that adolescents took into account the uncertainty associated with gambles, as well as the social norms conveyed by peers. Our findings suggest that peers are most influential in uncertain situations and demonstrate the value of a social norms approach in examining the processes underlying peer effects.

When Do those “Risk-Taking Adolescents” Take Risks? The Combined Effects of Risk Encouragement by Peers, Mild-to-Borderline Intellectual Disability and Sex

“…Relatedly, peers could be used as promotors of positive behavior. For example, recent studies show that positive peer feedback on prosocial behavior increases this behavior in typically developing adolescents and adolescents with autism (Choukas-Bradley et al 2015;Van Hoorn et al 2017). Potentially, peer feedback could also be used in interventions to decrease risk taking, particularly adolescents who are highly susceptible to peer influence could benefit from this approach.…”

“…Adolescence is known as a period of increased sensitivity to peer influence (Crone and Dahl 2012;Steinberg and Morris 2001;Van Hoorn et al 2017). Indeed, the peer context is related to adolescent risk taking in daily life, as demonstrated by the doubled risk of fatal injuries during driving accompanied by peers (Chen et al 2000).…”

“…Indeed, the peer context is related to adolescent risk taking in daily life, as demonstrated by the doubled risk of fatal injuries during driving accompanied by peers (Chen et al 2000). Several experimental studies also demonstrate that the (perceived) presence of peers increases risk taking (De Boer and Harakeh 2017;Gardner and Steinberg 2005;Maclean et al 2014;Van Hoorn et al 2017;Weigard et al 2014). However, adolescents vary in their susceptibility to peer influence on risk taking.…”

Neural Correlates of Social Influence on Risk Taking and Substance Use in Adolescents

“…In early adolescence, those with a history of problem behaviors often flock together in deviant peer groups, engaging in daily social interactions that further amplify problem behaviors [33–35]. Experimental studies support these real-world findings and show increased risky and impulsive decisions in the laboratory when adolescents are accompanied by their friends (i.e., implicit peer influence) or receive peer feedback (i.e., explicit peer pressure to take risks) [7, 29, 36–38]. …”

An experimental investigation of the influence of deviant peers on own deviancy: A replication study

“…While the experimental social psychology literature has a multitude of studies that examine peer influence on various behavioral outcomes (see Paternoster et al 2013 for an overview), the outcomes of interest are often not comparable to (minor) delinquent acts. Similarly, developmental research has also conducted studies on the influence of (deviant) peers on risk-taking behavior or risky decision-making behavior (e.g., Gardner and Steinberg 2005;MacLean et al 2014;Smith et al 2014;van Hoorn et al 2016). However, these studies manipulated either the presence of peers or their risk-aversive attitudes, but not their actual deviant behavior.…”