Chapter 6
Adolescent psychology: Peers
The Peer Group
Normal competent social development in adolescence depends on good peer relationships
Peers: near in age, near in behavior, and near in interaction
Peer Group Functions
A source of information and social comparison (reference group)
Opportunities for demonstrating competence and rehearsing roles (trying out new behaviors)
Models for, and reinforcement for, behavior
Hierarchical structure of the peer group Maintains a pecking order (role and
status) Consists of positions of status which are
filled from the top and bottom to the middle
Has a normative structure (norms develop in all groups)
Hierarchical structure of the peer group Promotes frustration and competition
between groups Intergroup competition can foster
hostility between groups Intergroup hostility can be reduced by
superordinate common goals
Group formation can occur over many issues Music, politics, religion, ethnicity, or
sexual preference Groups can be a “crowd” or a “clique”
which we will discuss in detail
The Crowd
Interact because of common interests in activities
Example: people in a crowd at a rock concert
Group interest of the “crowd” is narrow and short-lived
They are a time-limited specific-focus collection of individuals
Cliques
Formed on the basis of wider similarity of interests and social ideals
Selection of a clique often involves conflict
Clique allegiance may overshadow personal identity and membership in formal organizations
Cliques
Are smaller and more intimate than the crowd
Have higher cohesion than the crowd Have longer duration than the crowd
Peer Popularity
Popularity with peers is related to:– being ones’ self– being happy– conforming to peer group norms– being friendly and enthusiastic– indicating concern for others as well as for
ones’ self (but not being conceited or stuck up)
Peer popularity: % of characteristic Males Females conformity 37 55 friendly 40 40 being self 18 20 personality 10 20 attractive 04 10 “cool” 11 08
Peer popularity
Persons who are physically attractive and intelligent are more popular with peers
Peers make good tutors and models Finding groups of importance with peers
of good caliber
Rejected and neglected children
Both are unsuccessful kids in the peer popularity game
Neglected children are just ignored by the peer group
Rejected children are downright attacked and treated differently by possible peer groups
Peer Conformity
Peer pressure: agreeing with expressed opinions of the group
Agreeing with the dress code, habits of expression, and some behaviors of the peer group
Adolescents more likely to follow peer standards than children or adults
Peer conformity
Peer pressure reaches its peak around 14 years of age and then is replaced by conformity to friends (and not the entire group or clique).
Junior high students have less personal freedom than almost any other group as the personal expression is dominated by the peer group.
Conformity in the peer group
Conformist: understands and obeys expectations
Nonconformist: understands expectations and refuses to change personal behaviors; truly independent
Anticonformist: behaves counter to expectations.
Merton’s Anomie Theory of Deviance Goals Means to Goals Conformist yes yes Innovation yes no Ritualism no yes Retreatism no no Rebellion NO!!! NO!!! Rebel without a cause...
Conformity
Conformists are most common Ritualists, Innovators are next most
common Retreatists are next to last and Rebels
are the last in the conformity continuum Increased allegiance to the peer group
marks only superficial value differences with parents values
Values
Conflicts between parents and teens are a matter of degree of agreement with value, usually, and not in the direction of the value itself.
Which school to go to RATHER than the value of going to school at all.
Much overlap in values between parents and teens
Values
In areas where parents lack expressed conviction kids turn to peers for information about what to think
need to conform to peer group value structure varies individually
Quality of family relationships, type of family, can influence values, of course.
Values conflicts
Adults emphasize:– conformity to society– work– achievement
Peer group emphasizes:– conformity to youth culture– fun– self-gratification
Friendships: Importance
Particularly important in adolescence and intimate friendships first emerge at this time
Companionship, stimulation, physical support, ego support, social comparison, intimacy/affection all happen within the bounds of adolescent friendships
Intimacy and similarity in friendships Girls have more intimate friendships
than boys do and rate them more highly than do boys
Friends are usually similar in terms of age, sex, race, and attitudes, aspirations, and interests
Later adolescent friendships more important than early ones
Criteria for friendship
Similarity of social characteristics similarity of sex age school grade SES ethnicity intelligence, educational aspirations
Social intelligence
Develops in early adolescence so that teens can understand what it takes to get along, make friends, and be included
Decoding of social cues, interpretation of cues and hints, response searches, selection of appropriate responses all influence social intelligence
Friendship patterns
Early adolescence: superficiality and someone to have fun with
Middle adolescence: emotional intensity at its peak just prior to dating and sexual activity– emphasis on the quality of the relationship
itself– sharing, openness
Qualities of a good friend
Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, reverent.
Heard these before?
Friendships: Late Adolescence
The intense quality recedes and is replaced by greater independence.
Intimacy: closeness, ease of communication, attachment and affection
Friendship: voluntary involvement in mutual activities with one other person.
Matrix of Intimacy/Friendship
Perception of Friendship High Low High Integrated Intimate
Intimacy Low Friendly Uninvolved
Friendships
College girls are more likely to have integrated and intimate friendships
High school boys are more friendly or uninvolved relationships
Integrated relationships are more likely to happen for either gender in later adolescence than in earlier adolescence
Dating:Functions
Provides a form of recreation
Is a source of status and achievement
Is a part of the socialization process
Serves as a form of mate selection
Dating: Incidence and Age Trends Most adolescents begin dating between
12-16 years of age Girls are more likely than boys to
disclose themselves and to engage in personality exploration with a date
Adolescents claim to choose dates for personality factors but the main factor is physical attraction and chances for sex
Dating
The number one reason for liking someone is that they like you too
Mutual admiration Consensual validation of reality Going “Steady” means a commitment not
to date others (a mini-marriage) Males show higher sexual interest;
females show higher love/romance
Dating
What attracts adolescents to each other?– Consensual validation– similarity of interests– same socioeconomic class– same level of attractiveness– trade offs between chances for sex and
love/romantic involvement; dynamic
Sexual behavior and adolescence
After controlling for demographic variables, adolescent females who had engaged in sexual intercourse reported:– more frequent use of alcohol – more frequent use of cigarettes– higher levels of stress
76% of sexually active teens can be identified with these 3 traits
Sexual activity predictors
For both males and females alcohol consumption is a major predictor of sexual activity
smoking as a predictor stress as a predictor Risks of sexual behavior to teens
– HepC, HepB, Herpes-2, HIV-1
Sexual predictors in adolescent males Frequent use of alcohol higher stress levels less likely to use seatbelts more likely to be in physical fights
Types of love
Storge: life-long friends– rapport, self-revelation, interdependency– mutual need fulfillment– good friends– unquestioned assumption of the
permanency of the relationship– comfortable and relaxing– mutual trust
Types of love
Agapic love– totally “thou” centered– forgiving, putting other first– completely open acceptance no matter
what– will give up the loved one if that seems to
be the better thing for the loved one– always supportive
Types of love
Mania– possessiveness and intense dependency– unable to sleep, eat, or think logically
around the loved one– peaks of excitement, depths of depression– irrational– cannot tolerate absence, loss of loved one– jealousy, low-self-esteem, anxiety
Types of love
Pragma: logical-sensible love– market-value of self and appraisal of other
and a “settling” of what is a best match given the plus/minus of both
– good helper, help to achieve potentials of other
– checks out in-laws, knows the score– pragma thinks ahead
Types of love
Ludus: self-centered game player– plays love affairs as a game like they play
games or puzzles -- to win– shys away from commitment of any sort– avoids long range plans– probably not sexually sophisticated; sex
may be self-centered and exploitative– uses persons and then moves on
Types of love
Eros: Romantic love– falling in love– whole mind-body connectedness– remember the kiss, smell, taste, and feel of
all encounters– extremely powerful; enlivening form of
relationship– lasting practicalities?
End of Chapter 6
Questions?
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