Salience norms of aggressive and prosocial behaviour moderate homotypic and heterotypic forms of peer influence

• In Event: 1-095 - Peer Influence: New Methods for Unpacking Longitudinal Effects

Integrative Statement

INTRODUCTION: Research on peer influence has typically emphasized forms of homotypic similarity in which friends affect each other on the same variable such as measures of deviance or prosocial behavior. Evidence of heterotypic peer effects, or, the effect of one friend’s behaviour on one measure at an initial time on another behaviour of the other friend at a subsequent time are rare (c.f. Gremmen et.al., 2018). This study examines the moderating role of social salience norms at the peer group level on heterotypic peer effects at the dyadic level.

Salience norms refer to the within-group associations between popularity and a particular behaviour. Although the existing evidence suggests that the socialization of aggression is facilitated by salience norms of aggression, is limited by an absence of studies that consider heterotypic effects. This study characterizes the peer group context based on the salience norms of three behaviours (prosociality, relational and physical aggression) in order to examine its moderating role in heterotypic peer effects.

METHODS AND MEASURES. At two times separated by a three month interval, 1595 children from Bogotá, Colombia (Mage = 10.27) identified three best friends and completed a peer assessment questionnaire. Friendship nominations were used to identify 420 unique mutual and stable friendship dyads. Measures of prosocial behavior (α =93), physical (α =.87) and relational aggression (α =.94) and popularity (one item) were derived from the peer assessments. Controlling for selection and socialization effects, heterotypic effects were estimated by adding paths from an initial friend’s prosociality to a child’s aggressive behavior at time two, and vice-versa. Models were estimated separately for each type of aggression.

Salience norms for each same-sex class group were estimated by averaging the levels of aggression and help of the most popular members of the group (those who scored one standard deviation above the group mean). Three types of groups were found via a latent class analysis procedure: a) high salience norms of help b) moderate levels of all the salience norms c) high salience of aggression. The models of peer influence described before were replicated in each of the three types of groups.

RESULTS: Our main findings are: 1) Although the heterotypic effect of aggressive behaviour occurred only in groups with high salience of aggression, the homotypic effect of help showed similar trends across all the types of groups, 2) For heterotypic effects, aggressive behaviours (both physical and relational) were not predicted by the friend’s initial level of help, and this did not vary as a function of the type of group. 3) Help was positively predicted by the friend’s level of relational aggression, only in groups with high salience of prosociality.

SUMMARY: The dynamics of homotypic and heterotypic peer effects differed across same-sex groups with different levels of salience norms for aggressive and prosocial behaviour. This innovative finding show that socialization peer effects at the dyadic level, are influenced by contextual factors such as the value that peers attribute to aggression and prosociality.

Authors

• Melisa Castellanos, Concordia University
  Presenting Author

• William M. Bukowski, Concordia University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ana M Velásquez, Universidad de los Andes
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lina Saldarriaga, Universidad de Los Andes
  Non-Presenting Author