Peer Norms Research Articles

Sexual consent attitudes and rape‐supportive norms among gender and sexual minority students

AbstractCollege students’ views on sexual consent are developed in discussion with their peers and impacted by the traditional sexual script. This script prescribes gender roles that encourage men's coercion and facilitate victim‐blame. This heteronormative script may be less applicable to sexual minority individuals during same‐gender sexual relationships and to gender minority individuals, who often hold more fluid views on gender. We examine the consent attitudes and perceived rape‐supportive peer norms of American gender and sexual minority (GSM) college students. Using archival data from a campus climate survey (N = 2040), we conducted a series of chi‐square analyses to compare student consent attitudes and perceptions of rape‐supportive peer norms by GSM status and gender. GSM students (vs. cisgender heterosexual students) and women and nonbinary people (vs. men) reported higher support for sexual consent. Having an identity that differs from the roles prescribed in traditional sexual scripts may confer an advantage in developing prosocial views of sexual consent.

The Influence of Familial and Peer Social Support on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Among Black Girls in Juvenile Correctional Facilities

Black girls bear a higher burden of juvenile justice involvement in the United States, relative to other racial/ethnic female groups. Emerging evidence suggests that system involvement is related to trauma histories and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study investigated the associations between individual, family, and peer factors, and their relationship to PTSD among Black girls with juvenile justice involvement. Cross-sectional data were collected from 188 Black girls in detention. Measures assessed were history of abuse, negative peer norms, future orientation, caregiver support, self-esteem, age, and PTSD symptoms. Major regression findings indicated that higher rates of caregiver support, higher negative peer norms, lower self-esteem rates, and lower future orientation rates were correlated with greater PTSD symptoms. Treatment programs for this population warrant a multisystemic approach, which includes caregivers and peers, and bolstering important constructs such as self-esteem and hopefulness.

The Motherload: Predicting Experiences of Work-Interfering-with-Family Guilt in Working Mothers

Despite receiving significant attention from sociological scholars and a growing discourse in popular culture, relatively little psychological research has investigated experiences of guilt in working mothers. This study aimed to explore potential predictors of guilt in response to a specific kind of work-family conflict where work interferes with the parenting role or family life (work-interfering-with-family guilt). Participants were 1375 mothers of children aged 12 or under who worked or studied a cumulative 15 hr per week or more. Data were gathered via an online questionnaire where participants completed measures of work-interfering-with-family guilt, work-family conflict, parenting self-efficacy, perceived social norms regarding maternal employment and the degree to which they felt they deviated from an “ideal” mother. Results revealed that mothers who experienced high work-family conflict and perceived themselves as highly deviant from an “ideal” mother reported higher levels of guilt. Moreover, high parenting self-efficacy and strong peer norms in favour of maternal employment were associated with less guilt. Demographic variables such as participant age, whether the mother engaged in study, and the number of hours worked per week were also significantly related to guilt. This study provides preliminary evidence of potential risk and protective factors in the development of employment-related guilt in working mothers. These factors may prove effective targets in future psychological interventions aimed at reducing distress in working mothers or parents.

Parallel empathy and group attitudes in late childhood: The role of perceived peer group attitudes

ABSTRACT Although several studies have examined outgroup empathy, the link between trait empathy and outgroup attitudes has been underinvestigated. In the present study this link was investigated among two samples of ethnic Dutch preadolescents (N = 335, Mage = 10.83 years, SD = 0.94; 53% girls; N = 326; Mage = 10.53 years, SD = 1.03; 48% girls). It examined children’s parallel empathy in relation to their ethnic attitudes, and the moderating role of perceived peer norms. Results (partly) support the hypotheses that empathy is associated with more outgroup positivity and less ingroup bias (ingroup minus outgroup attitude). The negative link between empathy and outgroup bias was stronger when peers were perceived to be more biased against the outgroup.

Adolescents' Sexy Self-Presentation on Instagram: An Investigation of Their Posting Behavior Using a Prototype Willingness Model Perspective.

Some adolescents use social media platforms, such as Instagram, for sexualized self-presentation, which includes posting images in which someone is scarcely dressed, has a sexy gaze or in which sexual willingness is suggested. These behaviors could be a first step towards sexting. Given that adolescents are highly influenced by peer perceptions, this study uses the prototype willingness model to assess how teenagers’ perceptions of others could influence their posting behaviors. The study was conducted among 2626 students (n = 1530; 58.4% girls) between the ages of 14 and 21 (M = 16.14; SD = 1.02) in 10 secondary schools in the Dutch-speaking community in Belgium. The results show that older adolescents and girls were more likely to post images of themselves on Instagram. The models showed that peer norms and willingness and attitudes were significantly associated with posting intention. The perceived norms of adolescents’ parents were not significantly related to the behaviors. There were also significant associations between perceived similarity, prototype favorability and the willingness to engage in sexualized self-presentation on Instagram. The implications for education and practice are discussed.

Drug Injection-Related Norms and High-Risk Behaviors of People Who Inject Drugs in Athens, Greece

Drug use involves social interactions. Therefore, norms in the proximal environment of people who inject drugs (PWID) can favor behaviors that may result in HIV transmission. This work aimed at studying drug injection-related norms and their potential association with risky behaviors among PWID in Athens, Greece, in the context of economic recession and political activism that followed the fiscal crisis and soon after a recent HIV outbreak had leveled off. The Transmission Reduction Intervention Project (TRIP) was a social network-based approach (June 2013 to July 2015) that involved two groups of PWID seeds-with recent HIV infection and with long-term HIV infection and one control group of HIV-negative PWID. Network contacts of seeds were also enrolled. TRIP participants answered a questionnaire that included items on injection-related norms and behaviors. TRIP recruited 320 PWID (HIV positive, 44.4%). TRIP participants, especially those without HIV, often recalled or perceived as normative among their partners and in their networks some behaviors that can lead to HIV transmission. TRIP participants who recalled that they were encouraged by their regular drug partners to use an unclean syringe were almost twice as likely to report that they share syringes [odds ratio (OR) = 2.03; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.86-2.21], or give syringes to someone else (OR = 1.70; 95% CI = 1.42-2.04) as those who did not recall such an encouragement. Associations were modified by HIV status. HIV negatives, who were reportedly encouraged to share nonsyringe injecting equipment, were almost 4.5 times as likely to share that material as HIV-negative participants who were not encouraged (OR = 4.59, 95% CI = 4.12-5.11). Further research is needed on the multiple determinants (social, economic, and political) of norms in the social environments of PWID. Since peer norms are associated with risky behaviors, interventions should be developed to encourage norms and peer pressure against the sharing of injection equipment.

The Correlation between Perceived Peer Norms in Attitude and Self-Efficacy Premarital Sexual Behavior

Background and Aims: Adolescence is a period of life in which high-risk behaviors, including sexual behaviors, put the adolescents at risk for sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS. This research aimed at studying the relationship between peers' perception of sexual behavior and adolescents' attitudes and self-efficacy. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study used a multi-stage method to examine 1500 subjects in the universities of Shahroud, Iran. The questionnaires were consisted of sexual abstinence attitude, abstinence self-efficacy and peer subjective norms. To ensure the confidentiality of information, the questionnaire was distributed among 1500 students in six universities anonymously, and students҆ field of study was not mentioned. The collected data was analyzed with descriptive (Mean, Percent) and inferential tests (independent t-test, chi2, and Spearman test) using SPSS 18 software. Results: The mean age of the females was 20.26±1.49, and that of males was 20.32±1.575. 59.3% of male students and 86.8% of female students had poor sexual abstinence to sex before marriage. Moreover, the sexual abstinence self-efficacy of 29% of male students and 13.1% of female students, regarding the sexual abstinence before marriage, was strong. Findings showed that the more one believes in his/her abilities in sexual abstinence, the more they believe that their friends will not be involved in sex Conclusion: It is required to provide the opportunities to learn and correct the socio-emotional skills required for physical and sexual health in relationships through social interactions with peers. In this context, the reproductive health programs need to be prioritized in the youth health programs and schools

Joint implications of teachers and classroom peers for adolescents' aggression and engagement

This study investigated the mediation and moderation roles of classroom peer norms (CPNs) on the associations of teacher support with student aggression and academic engagement across the first year of middle school (fall and spring of sixth grade). Students (N = 312; 49% females) were from 32 classrooms in three schools. Data included peer-nominated aggression (overt, relational) and self-reported engagement (involved, disruptive behavior) and teacher support. Multilevel modeling analyses indicated a mediation model for disruptive behavior and trends of mediation for aggression, as the negative associations of fall classroom level teacher support with spring disruptive behavior and aggression were mediated by the corresponding CPN. Findings indicated a moderation model for involved behavior; students reported higher levels of involved behavior in the spring if they perceived more teacher support than their classmates and if the involved behavior CPN was high in the fall. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

An exploratory non-randomized study of a 3-month electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) intervention with people accessing a homeless supported temporary accommodation service (STA) in Ireland

BackgroundSmoking is endemic amongst people accessing homeless services, and they are disproportionately affected by smoking-related diseases. This paper reports on the results of a 3-month small scale intervention which explored the efficacy, challenges and opportunities of using electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) to support cessation of tobacco smoking with people accessing an Irish supported temporary accommodation (STA) homeless service. It considers the results of this intervention with reference to the balance of harms between the use of vaping to support smoking cessation and continued smoking.MethodsTwenty-three participants were recruited. Demographic data, carbon monoxide (CO) measurements, homelessness status and smoking history were recorded. Participants were given an ENDS device and two 10-ml bottles containing e-liquid available in several flavours and at several strengths. Participants could pick up new bottles on a weekly basis. At weeks 1, 4, 8 and 12, the Fagerström Test and Mood and Physical Symptoms Scale (MPSS) were administered.ResultsOver 75% of the residents in the participating hostel were recruited (23/30). However, there was a substantial loss to follow-up (n = 14) as a result of data protection issues, the transient nature of the population of interest and non-compliance with the intervention.Self-reported reductions in cigarette consumption were found to be statistically significant (p < 0.001). However, reductions in carbon monoxide measurements were not statistically significant. Decreases in Fagerström Nicotine Dependence Test were statistically significant (p = 0.001), but decreases in MPSS “urge to smoke” and “strength of urges” composite scores were not.Reported side effects included coughing, runny nose, bleeding nose, slight sweating, dizziness, increased phlegm and a burning sensation at the back of the throat. Barriers to engagement were peer norms, vaping restrictions in accommodation and adverse life events.Positive effects reported included increased energy, less coughing, better breathing and financial benefits. An improvement in the domain “poor concentration” was also found to be statistically significant (p = 0.040).ConclusionENDS-based interventions may be effective with this population. Future research should aim to improve follow-up, consider including behavioural components and monitor health effects in relation to ongoing concerns around risks and the balance of harms.Trial registrationRegistered retrospectively ISRCTN14767579

Neurobiological Sensitivity to Social Rewards and Punishments Moderates Link Between Peer Norms and Adolescent Risk Taking

Although peer influence is a strong predictor of adolescents' risk-taking behaviors, not all adolescents are susceptible to their peer group. One hundred and thirty-six adolescents (Mage =12.79years) completed an fMRI scan, measures of perceived peer group norms, and engagement in risky behavior. Ventral striatum (VS) sensitivity when anticipating social rewards and avoiding social punishments significantly moderated the association between perceived peer norms and adolescents' own risk behaviors. Perceptions of more deviant peer norms were associated with increased risky behavior, but only for adolescents with high VS sensitivity; adolescents with low VS sensitivity were resilient to deviant peer norms, showing low risk taking regardless of peer context. Findings provide a novel contribution to the study of peer influence susceptibility.

Productive aging: peer influence and retirement

ABSTRACT Public awareness of demographic change is necessary to guide individual and national planning for retirement. For the first time in American history, older adults are forecast to soon outnumber children. Accordingly, expectations for retirement should be considered in a larger than personal context, a broad perspective that implicates relatives, the community, and government agencies. Shifts in attitudes and peer norms of retirees are explored that could enrich intergenerational relationships while contributing to learning, satisfaction, and sense of self-worth. The scope of adult education should include learning about strengthening families, productive aging, need for role reciprocity, importance of social interaction, and support for volunteerism. Participation in these opportunities can motivate greater maturity guided by a balanced schedule that reflects the time for self-interest activities and time to help younger generations attain their goals.

The Influence of School Expectations vs. Peer Norms on Cross-cultural Differences in Bystander Responses to Bullying

The Influence of School Expectations vs. Peer Norms on Cross-cultural Differences in Bystander Responses to Bullying

Testing an Integrated Model of Alcohol Norms and Availability, Binge Drinking, and Teen Dating Violence

ABSTRACT This study examined an integrated model that proposes that alcohol availability and alcohol norms will directly and indirectly via binge drinking predict physical, sexual, and emotional teen dating violence (TDV) victimization. These data come from 22,336 high school students (49.6%) from 69 schools who participated in the New Hampshire Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2017. All teens included in the analyses reported dating in the past year. Perceptions of alcohol availability and peer and parental acceptance of teen drinking related to an increased likelihood of binge drinking, and binge drinking related to an increased risk of physical, sexual, and emotional TDV victimization. Also, alcohol availability and perceived parental and peer norms exerted a direct influence on the increased likelihood of TDV victimization. Lastly, we examined the moderating role of gender on these associations. Only one significant association emerged, such that for boys, but not for girls, perceived parental alcohol norms related to an increased likelihood of emotional TDV victimization. Findings suggest that TDV prevention and risk reduction initiatives need to focus on efforts that reduce binge drinking in teens. Reducing alcohol availability and shifting perceptions of parental alcohol norms and peer alcohol norms could be helpful in reducing both binge drinking and TDV victimization.

When peer norms work? Coherent groups facilitate normative influences on cyber aggression.

Due to the impersonal and anonymous nature of cyberspace, past work underscored the pivotal role of social influence processes in cyberbullying among adolescents. However, there was also evidence revealing the weak influences that some referent groups yield on youth. The current study argues that the strength of normative influences on cyberbullying depends on the properties of the referent groups. In the school context, we examined whether class entitativity-the extent to which a class is a unified and coherent group, rather than a mere aggregation of students-moderated the relationship between class norms and cyberbullying. A total of 474 adolescent students responded to measures of descriptive and injunctive class norms about cyberbullying, perceived class entitativity, and cyberbullying. The results indicated that pro-cyberbullying descriptive and injunctive class norms were positively correlated with cyber aggression. Most importantly, higher levels of pro-cyberbullying class norms predicted increases in cyber aggression when students perceived their classes as highly entitative. In contrast, this effect was not significant when students perceived their classes having low entitativity. These findings promote an understanding of how peer norms work and provide an alternative strategy for interventions into cyber aggression in schools.

How Czech Adolescents Perceive Active Commuting to School: A Cross-Sectional Study

To achieve a healthy lifestyle, adolescents must be physically active and meet physical activity (PA) guidelines. One of the most natural ways of increasing the amount of PA is active commuting (AC) to school. Recent reviews suggest that peer norms have the potential to shape PA during adolescence in particular. Thus, our primary aim was to investigate whether Czech adolescents misperceive their peers’ AC behaviors and attitudes towards AC. Our dataset comprised cross-sectional data on 1586 adolescents aged 11–15 years. Basic descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and correlation analyses were used to analyze the data. Regarding traveling to school, 68% of the Czech adolescents in this study are daily active commuters (walking, cycling, or riding a scooter or skateboard). Less than half of the respondents believed that most of their classmates were commuting to school actively almost daily. The students who believed that most of their classmates commuted to school actively had significantly higher chances of being regular active commuters themselves. The results showed that most of the Czech adolescents misperceived the AC norms of their peers. Thus, there could be potential in using a social norms approach aimed at increasing the level of AC in Czech adolescents through targeted interventions.

State Medical Marijuana Laws and Associated Marijuana Use, Attitudes, and Perceived Social Norms among Adolescents in the U.S

ABSTRACT Statewide medical marijuana laws (MMLs) in the U.S. may be associated with adolescent marijuana use behavior, attitudes toward marijuana use, and social norms. This study used data from the National Study on Drug Use and Health (2013–2016) to examine the associations of state MML with marijuana use, use frequency, and attitudes and perceived peer and parental social norms toward using marijuana. Propensity-score matching was used to reduce selection bias between states with and without MML (matched N = 50,000). Results showed that adolescents residing in states with MML had higher odds of using marijuana in the past month and past year (OR = 1.45 and 1.49; ps < .001), higher marijuana use frequencies in the past month (β = 0.12, p < .001), relatively more neutral attitudes toward marijuana use (β = − 0.06, p < .001), and weaker perception of peer and parental disapproval of marijuana use (β = − 0.04 and −0.02, ps < .001). Our findings suggested that for the states that have implemented MML, special efforts should be strengthened to prevent and reduce adolescent marijuana use. For the states that have not yet implemented MML, the associations between MML and adolescent marijuana use attitudes and perceived norms should be taken into account when legislating medical marijuana and designing prevention and intervention efforts.

Adolescents’ Patterns of Citizenship Orientations and Correlated Contextual Variables: Results From a Two-Wave Study in Five European Countries

Studies on youth participation tend to characterize youth as either active and trustful or as passive and alienated. This cross-national and longitudinal study examines patterns of citizenship orientations characterized by both manifest and latent involvement differentiated by one’s position toward institutional politics (trustful or distrustful) among 1,914 adolescents from five European countries (53.5% female; Mage = 16.27). Demographic and proximal contextual correlates associated with different orientations at a 1-year interval were also assessed. Latent profile analysis identified four groups of citizenship orientations among adolescents: engaged trustful, engaged distrustful, unengaged trustful, and unengaged distrustful. Differences of membership likelihood were found for background characteristics (gender and family income), school characteristics (track, democratic climate, student participation, and its perceived quality), family, and peer norms of participation.

A Short-Term Longitudinal Investigation of the Perceived Hookup Attitude of Gender-Specific Close Friends and Hookup Behavior.

Research suggests that peer injunctive norms (i.e., perceived attitudes) have an indirect effect on youth’s behavior. Few studies have explored the underlying mechanism of the relationship between the perceived attitude of gender-specific close friends and hookup behavior. Following the social norm approach and the social learning theory, a person’s own hookup attitude and their emotional reaction after a hookup would influence this relationship as mediators. We therefore examined the association between perceived hookup attitudes of students’ same-sex/opposite-sex close friends and the number of hookup partners via mediated variables (i.e., own hookup attitude and affect following a recent hookup) in Chinese college students (N = 314) who completed self-report measures at 6-month intervals. The results of a path analysis showed that students’ own attitudes toward hookups and negative affect following a hookup significantly mediated the association between perceived hookup attitudes of same-sex close friends and the number of hookup partners over 6 months. These findings indicate that same-sex close friends’ injunctive norms were more strongly associated with future hookup behavior, as compared to opposite-sex friends’ injunctive norms. To better understand the relationship between peer norms and hookup behavior, both students’ hookup attitudes and negative emotional responses should be considered.

Nightlife scene involvement and patterns of prescription drug misuse.

Participation in nightlife influences a range of health behaviours. Participants in various nightlife scenes have increasingly adopted prescription drug misuse into their substance use repertoires. With 404 young adults recruited via time-space sampling in New York, we examine the relationship of nightlife participation-measured by number of scenes and the number of nights out in nightlife scenes-to prescription drug misuse during the past 3 months. Outcomes included frequency of misuse, escalation to non-oral consumption, polydrug use, social problems and symptoms of dependence. Negative binomial regressions indicate nightlife participation is associated with increased frequency of misuse measured by number of scenes (incidence rate ratio = 1.114, P < 0.05) and number of nights out (incidence rate ratio = 1.009, P < 0.001). Logistic regression models show nightlife participation is associated with increased odds of non-oral use (adjusted odds ratio; AOR = 1.334, P < 0.01) and polydrug use (AOR = 1.776, P < 0.001) measured by number of scenes, and non-oral use (AOR = 1.021, P < 0.001) and polydrug use (AOR = 1.023, P < 0.001) as measured by number of nights out. Nightlife participation is not associated with prescription drug problems or symptoms of dependence. Frequency of participation is associated with peer norms favourable to prescription drugs (B = 0.003, P < 0.01). Nightlife participation has implications for prescription drug misuse. While shaping how often and in what manner young people consume prescription drugs, nightlife participation is not associated with harms experienced. Given the significance of the prescription drug trend in many world regions, these results suggest that increasing participation in nightlife shapes patterns of drug use, but in ways that do not lead to reported problems.

The Prospective Influence of Perceived Social Norms on Bystander Actions Against Sexual Violence and Relationship Abuse: A Multiple Mediation Model.

The present study assessed support for an innovative model of the direct and indirect paths through which perceived peer norms regarding the prevalence and acceptability of sexual violence (SV) and relationship abuse (RA) may influence the decisional process leading to bystander intervention. Analyses included baseline and 6-month follow-up data collected from a large sample of high school students (N = 2,303) across 27 schools in the Northeastern United States. Path analyses were conducted to test a multiple mediation model of the direct and indirect associations among the sequential predictors of perceived descriptive and injunctive norms, personal attitudes, abuse perceptions, risk recognition, and dependent measures of bystander behaviors at baseline and 6-month follow-up. Higher perceptions of the prevalence (descriptive norms) and acceptability (injunctive norms) of SV and RA among peers were associated with more accepting personal attitudes toward SV and RA, which were associated with lower abuse perceptions and risk recognition. Furthermore, lower abuse perceptions and risk recognition were associated with decreases in bystander behaviors at both time points. Mediational analyses revealed several significant indirect paths through which higher perceptions of descriptive and injunctive norms contributed to decreases in bystander behavior. Findings provide novel evidence of the prospective influence of perceived norms on bystander intervention behavior in situations of SV and RA.