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

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Few topics on the subject of peer relationships provoke as much interest, attention, and concern as the topic of peer influence. Scholars have long assumed that peer influence expands during the developmental period when agemates come to dominate the child’s social world (Laursen, 2018). The early and middle adolescent years are of particular concern; declining adult supervision, the absence of a clear identity, and social and neurological changes that emphasize peer status and peer rewards combine to heighten susceptibility (Albert, Chein, & Steinberg, 2013). Speculation about peer influence processes, however, far outstrips evidence. Methodological concerns loom large. Longitudinal data must be analyzed in ways that overcome the statistical nonindependence inherent in data gathered from dyads and groups.

Three papers, with participants representing three different cultures, describe cutting-edge strategies for conceptualizing and assessing peer influence. Drawn from laboratories that consistently push the field in new directions, the papers describe innovative advances in the analysis of nonindependent data. One paper tackles the thorny problem of disentangling influence from group context effects, specifying the role that class norms play in friend-driven behavioral change. A second paper addresses the hitherto difficult to quantify challenge of separating positive influence from negative influence, distinguishing friends who promote beneficial change from those who are detrimental. The third paper unpackages two important sources of peer influence that are typically undifferentiated, separating within-dyad effects attributable to being well-liked from those attributable to being popular. The symposium will close with reflections from a prominent expert on peer influence methodology.

Sub Unit

• Social Relationships

Chair

• Brett Laursen, Florida Atlantic University

Discussant

• Dawn DeLay, Arizona State University

Individual Presentations

• Friendship Influence Across Transitions: Predicting Early Adult Mental Health From Friends’ Mental Health in Adolescence - Presenting Author: Anna Nishen, Radboud University; Non-Presenting Author: William Burk, Radboud University Nijmegen; Non-Presenting Author: Toon Cillessen, Radboud University

• Salience norms of aggressive and prosocial behaviour moderate homotypic and heterotypic forms of peer influence - Presenting Author: Melisa Castellanos, Concordia University; Non-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

• Friend Influence During Primary School: The Role of Peer Social Status in Positive Adjustment - Presenting Author: Olivia Maria Valdes, Florida Atlantic University; Non-Presenting Author: Brett Laursen, Florida Atlantic University