Susceptibility to prosocial and antisocial influence in adolescence

S Ahmed,L Foulkes,J.T Leung,C Griffin,A Sakhardande,M Bennett,D.L Dunning,K Griffiths,J Parker,W Kuyken,J.M.G Williams,T Dalgleish,S.J Blakemore

doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2020.07.012

Abstract

IntroductionAdolescents are particularly susceptible to social influence and previous studies have shown that this susceptibility decreases with age. The current study used a cross-sectional experimental paradigm to investigate the effect of age and puberty on susceptibility to both prosocial and antisocial influence. MethodsParticipants (N = 520) aged 11–18 from London and Cambridge (United Kingdom) rated how likely they would be to engage in a prosocial (e.g. “help a classmate with their work”) or antisocial (e.g. “make fun of a classmate”) act. They were then shown the average rating (in fact fictitious) that other adolescents had given to the same question, and were then asked to rate the same behaviour again. ResultsBoth prosocial and antisocial influence decreased linearly with age, with younger adolescents being more socially influenced when other adolescents’ ratings were more prosocial and less antisocial than their own initial rating. Both antisocial and prosocial influence significantly decreased across puberty for boys but not girls (independent of age). ConclusionsThese findings suggest that social influence declines with increasing maturity across adolescence. However, the exact relationship between social influence and maturity is dependent on the nature of the social influence and gender. Understanding when adolescents are most susceptible to different types of social influence, and how this might influence their social behaviour, has important implications for understanding adolescent social development.

Highlights

Adolescents are susceptible to social influence and previous studies have shown that this susceptibility decreases with age
We ran a linear mixed-effects model to examine the extent to which participants changed their rating from Rating 1 to Rating 2, after seeing the provided rating purportedly from other people. We examined whether this was influenced by participant age (Hypothesis 1) and/or social condition
The current study investigated the effects of age and puberty on susceptibility to prosocial and antisocial influence in adolescence

Summary

Introduction

Adolescents are susceptible to social influence and previous studies have shown that this susceptibility decreases with age. The current study used a cross-sectional experimental paradigm to investigate the effect of age and puberty on susceptibility to both prosocial and antisocial influence. Results: Both prosocial and antisocial influence decreased linearly with age, with younger ado lescents being more socially influenced when other adolescents’ ratings were more prosocial and less antisocial than their own initial rating. The degree of conformity is age-dependent, with studies showing that susceptibility to social influence is highest during late childhood and adolescence and steadily declines into adulthood (Foulkes, Leung, Fuhrmann, Knoll, & Bla kemore, 2018; Knoll, Leung, Foulkes, & Blakemore, 2017; Knoll, Magis-Weinberg, Speekenbrink, & Blakemore, 2015; Steinberg & Monahan, 2007; Sumter, Bokhorst, Steinberg, & Westenberg, 2009). The heightened susceptibility to social influence in adolescents, combined with the increased fear of social rejection, increases the likelihood that adolescents will conform to their peers in order to gain social acceptance (Blakemore & Mills, 2014)

Results

Discussion

Conclusion