Peer Group Norms Affect Adolescents’ Bystander Social Cognitions

• In Event: Youth’s Conceptions of Prejudice and Inequality Across Contexts: Evidence from Asia, Europe, and North America

Abstract

Immigrant children and adolescents are at risk of experiencing social exclusion in school settings and bystanders can limit such exclusion by challenging the excluder. Previous research has demonstrated that group norms are related to children’s and adolescents’ own bystander responses to intergroup social exclusion (Yuksel et al., 2021). Yet, we have limited knowledge about how peer group norms of inclusion and exclusion can shape children’s and adolescents’ social cognitions regarding peers who challenge bullying. These social cognitions are important since they can help normalize non-challenging bystander responses to exclusion. In the current study, we examined whether ingroup and outgroup peer norms of inclusion and exclusion influenced British youth’s individual evaluations of a bystander challenger, group evaluation of a challenger, and their perceived group support for their challenging.

Participants included 227 British pre-adolescents (M=11.67, ranged between 9 and 13 years) and 295 adolescents (M=16.73, ranged between 15 and 18 years). Participants were randomly presented with one of four peer norms that varied based on the ingroup-outgroup status and whether the group norm was inclusive or exclusive. Then they read a story in which one British peer excluded a Turkish immigrant peer while another British peer challenged the exclusion (“challenger”). Participants rated their individual and peer group evaluation of the challenger. Further, they were also asked to evaluate how likely their peer group would be supportive of them if they challenged the exclusion of the Turkish immigrant.

The findings showed that only late adolescents who heard about an inclusive ingroup norm were more likely to think their group would evaluate the challenger more positively compared to participants who were presented with an exclusive ingroup norm (Figure 1). This finding demonstrates that late adolescents compared to early adolescents are more likely to infer their group’s evaluation of a challenger based on the ingroup peer norm. Both early and late adolescents were more likely to think that their peer group would support them being inclusive when the ingroup norm was inclusive compared to exclusive (Figure 2). Moreover, only late adolescents thought their peer group would support them being inclusive less when the peer outgroup had an exclusive rather than inclusive norm. Findings also documented that an inclusive ingroup norm amongst adolescents is indirectly associated with higher direct bystander challenging of immigrant exclusion, via an increased perception that your peer group would support your wish to be inclusive, p<.001.

Overall, the findings of this study suggest that from early to late adolescence group norms are increasingly related to adolescents’ perceptions of how their peer group would evaluate a bystander challenger and how much they will support intergroup exclusion of immigrants. Thus, interventions aimed at reducing bullying and exclusion of immigrants amongst adolescents should focus on encouraging inclusive rather than exclusive peer group norms. Into adolescence, such inclusive peer norms may encourage individuals to expect that their peer group would be welcoming towards behavior that challenges the bullying of immigrants. This is especially important and timely considering the global concerns around negative attitudes towards immigrants.

Authors

• Seçil Gönültaş, Bilkent University
  Presenting Author

• Eirini Ketzitzidou Argyri, University Of Exeter

• Sally Barbara Palmer, University Of Exeter

• Luke McGuire, University Of Exeter

• Melanie A. Killen, University of Maryland - College Park

• Adam Rutland, University Of Exeter