Peer contagion of aggression and health risk behavior among adolescent males: an experimental investigation of effects on public conduct and private attitudes.
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.
Cohen
Geoffrey L
GL
Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0345, USA. geoffrey.cohen@colorado.edu
Prinstein
Mitchell J
MJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D001294:Attitude to Health; D006608:Hierarchy, Social; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010379:Peer Group; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012919:Social Behavior; D012925:Social Conformity; D012931:Social Environment; D012932:Social Facilitation; D012951:Socialization; D012963:Sociometric Techniques