Resistance to Peer Influence and Risk Taking: A Cross-Cultural and Longitudinal Examination

• In Event: Parental and Peer Influences on Adolescent Risk Taking

Abstract

A hallmark of adolescence around the world is to engage in risk taking behaviors (Duell et al., 2016; Steinberg et al., 2018). These behaviors increase from early through late adolescence, at which point they peak before decreasing, indicating a greater engagement of cognitive control mechanisms and an ability to self-regulate (Steinberg, 2008). While adolescents understand the consequences of risky behaviors (similar to adults), when they are in the presence of peers, they are less likely to consider those consequences and are more likely to behave in accordance with their peers (Steinberg, 2009). This type of susceptibility to peer influence has been examined extensively in risk-taking literature, though to our knowledge, as a self-report index, it has not yet been found to be directly associated with self-reported risky behaviors longitudinally, and has primarily been investigated in Western countries. We examined risk-taking and resistance to peer influence at three different time points in an international sample to determine: 1) whether individuals who take more risks are also less resistant to peer influence, 2) differences between cultures on these constructs; and 3) trends over time.

Participants (N = 671; 47.7% male) were recruited from China, Italy, Kenya, the Philippines, Thailand, the US, Colombia, and Jordan. The measures of interest were administered at ages 11, 15, and 18, on average. To assess risk taking, we used an abbreviated version of the Benthin Risk Perception Measure (Benthin, Slovic, & Severson, 1993; Steinberg, 2009) in which participants indicated how risky they perceived various activities to be, and whether they engaged in such activities (e.g., drinking alcohol, getting in the vehicle with a drunk driver, having unprotected sex, smoking cigarettes). A composite risk-taking score was created based on the number of risky activities participants indicated they had done across each of the three waves. To assess resistance to peer influence, we used the Resistance to Peer Influence (RPI) measure (Steinberg & Monahan, 2007) in which participants were asked whether a behavior described them, and the extent to which it described them (e.g., changing the way you act when with friends).

Individuals who took more risks were less resistant to peer influence (Table 1). Repeated and mixed measures ANOVAs revealed that females were more resistant to peer influence than males and took fewer risks than males. Adolescents from Western European countries were more resistant to peer influence than adolescents from Asian countries. Across the three waves of data collection, adolescents increasingly engaged in more risk-taking behaviors, irrespective of gender or country. Females demonstrated a more pronounced increase in resistance to peer influence compared to males. Additionally, although adolescents from Western European countries became more resistant to peer influence over time, adolescents from Asian countries were no more/less resistant to peer influence over time (Figure 1). These results demonstrate a connection between risk-taking and peer influence, and suggest that as adolescents age, they are more sensitive to behaving in ways consistent with their peers, which is specific based on their gender and culture.

Authors

• Kaitlyn Breiner, California State University - Dominguez Hills
  Presenting Author

• Grace Icenogle, Temple University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Natasha Duell, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ann T. Skinner, Duke Univeristy
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jennifer E. Lansford, Duke University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Laura Di Giunta, Sapienza University of Rome
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kenneth A Dodge, Duke University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Qin Liu
  Non-Presenting Author

• Qian Long, Duke Kunshan University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Paul Odhiambo Oburu, Maseno University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Concetta Pastorelli, Sapienza University of Rome
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sombat Tapanya, Private Practice
  Non-Presenting Author

• Liliana Uribe Tirado, Universidad de San Buenaventura
  Non-Presenting Author

• Saengduean Yotanyamaneewong, Chiang Mai University, Thailand
  Non-Presenting Author

• Liane Peña Alampay, Ateneo de Manila University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Suha Al-Hassan, The Hashemite University, Jordan; Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority, UAE
  Non-Presenting Author

• Dario Bacchini, University of Naples 'Federico II'
  Non-Presenting Author

• Marc H Bornstein, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD/NIH)
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lei Chang, University of Macau
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kirby Deater-Deckard, University of Massachusetts Amherst
  Non-Presenting Author

• Laurence Steinberg, Temple University
  Non-Presenting Author