Peer contagion of aggression and health risk behavior among adolescent males: an experimental investigation of effects on public conduct and private attitudes.

Full Abstract

Peer contagion of adolescent males' aggressive/health risk behaviors was examined using a computerized "chat room" experimental paradigm. Forty-three 11th-grade White adolescents (16-17 years old) were led to believe that they were interacting with other students (i.e., "e-confederates"), who endorsed aggressive/health risk behaviors and whose ostensible peer status was experimentally manipulated. Adolescents displayed greater public conformity, more internalization of aggressive/health risk attitudes, and a higher frequency of actual exclusionary behavior when the e-confederates were high in peer status than low. Participants' level of social anxiety moderated peer contagion. Nonsocially anxious participants conformed only to high-status peers, whereas socially anxious participants were equally influenced by low- and high-status peers. The role of status-maintenance motivations in aggression and risk behavior, and implications for preventive intervention, are discussed.

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Author information

Author/s: Cohen, Geoffrey L (GL); Prinstein, Mitchell J (MJ);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0345, USA. geoffrey.cohen(-atsign-)colorado.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Child development (Child Dev), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: -2006 Jul-Aug; vol 77 (issue 4) : pp 967-83

Dates: Created 2006/08/31; Completed 2006/12/22;

PMID: 16942500, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Aggression - psychology
Anxiety - diagnosis; psychology
Attitude to Health
Hierarchy, Social
Humans
Internal-External Control
Male
Motivation

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