Popularity, likeability, and peer conformity: Four field experiments

Abstract

Adolescents tend to alter their attitudes and behaviors to match those of others; a peer influence process named peer conformity. This study investigated to what extent peer conformity depended on the status (popularity and likeability) of the influencer and the influencee. The study consisted of two phases. In Phase 1, 810 12- to 15-year-old adolescents participated in an experiment to measure peer conformity to one of four hypothetical peer groups designed to vary in levels of popularity and likeability. In Phase 2, a subsample of 269 12- to 13-year-old adolescents participated in three additional experiments in which peer conformity to actual classmates was measured. Results showed that participants were more likely to conform to high status peers than to low status peers, that influencer's level of popularity was stronger associated with peer conformity than their likeability, and that influencee's status (either popularity or likeability) played a lesser role in these effects than initially expected. Further, peer status as a mechanism of peer influence did not operate in the same way for boys and girls. Conclusions from the experiments regarding the degree and direction of peer conformity were discussed.