Abstract
Adolescence is a period of life during which peers play a pivotal role in decision-making. The narrative of social influence during adolescence often revolves around risky and maladaptive decisions, like driving under the influence, and using illegal substances (Steinberg, 2005). However, research has also shown that social influence can lead to increased prosocial behaviors (Van Hoorn et al., 2017) and a reduction in risk-taking (Braams et al., 2019). While many studies support the notion that adolescents are more sensitive to peer influence than children or adults, the developmental processes that underlie this sensitivity remain poorly understood. We argue that one important reason for this lack of understanding is the absence of precisely formulated models. To make a first step toward formal models of social influence during adolescence, we first identify three prominent verbal models of social influence in the literature: (1) social motivation, (2) reward sensitivity, and (3) distraction. We then illustrate how these can be translated into formal models, and how such formal models can inform experimental design and help identify developmental processes. Finally, by applying our formal models to existing datasets, we demonstrate the usefulness of formalization by synthesizing different studies with seemingly disparate results. We conclude with a discussion on how formal modeling can be utilized to better investigate the development of peer influence in adolescence.
Highlights
Peers impact almost all aspects of adolescent lives, from the more trivial, such as taste in music and clothing, to the more serious, such as the use of illicit drugs or engaging in unprotected sex (Steinberg, 2008)
In agreement with the original author’s conclusions, we found that the impact of risky social information was strongest in youngest participants
In sum we find that safe social information has a greater impact on choice than risky information, especially so during adolescence
Summary
Peers impact almost all aspects of adolescent lives, from the more trivial, such as taste in music and clothing, to the more serious, such as the use of illicit drugs or engaging in unprotected sex (Steinberg, 2008). These latter, riskier, choices may carry life-long consequences for the adolescent and bring significant cost to society. It is empirically well established that the presence of peers influences risky behavior in adolescence (Gardner and Steinberg, 2005; Chein et al, 2011; Pfeifer et al, 2011; Smith et al, 2014), but the underlying developmental processes remain poorly understood. We can only identify these affordances if we succeed at linking adolescent neuronal and cognitive development with adolescent behavior across different social contexts
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