Peer influences

• What is social learning theory (SLT) ?(Bandura 1977,1986)


  Learning through observation, imitation & modelling of another person (role model). Unlike classical & operant conditioning, SLT takes into account thoughts & mental processes of an individual & influence of others. Behaviourist theory, but could be seen to have cognitive aspects (became SCT in 1986).
• What is vicarious reinforcement?

  Reinforcement received indirectly by observing another person who's being rewarded for a behaviour.
• What is vicarious punishment?


  Stopping doing a behaviour after observing another person be punished for it.
• What is vicarious extinction?


  Stopping doing a behaviour after observing another person receive no reward for it.
• When are you more likely to imitate a behaviour?

  If role model observed is same gender as us, similar age or older, powerful or high status, friendly or likeable.
• Borsari & Carey (2001) :


  Made distinction between 2 types of social norm: descriptive & injunctive. Descriptive: refer to perception of what is. E.g, perceptions about how many times/how much people perform that behaviour. Injunctive: refer to perception of what ought to be; perceptions of what is approved or disapproved by others.
• What are perceived social norms?


  Rules of behaviour that are considered acceptable within particular social group. Some social groups hold attitudes that encourage behaviour that increases chances of addiction.
• Perkins & Berkowitz (1986) :


  Found high proportion of students they surveyed believed that being intoxicated was only acceptable in limited circumstances. High proportion also thought their peers believed it was acceptable.
• People may overestimate descriptive & injunctive norms of people around them. E.g, may overestimate amounts of drinking others do (descriptive) or assume high % of those around them believe drinking is 'cool' (injunctive).
• Bandura's 'Bobo doll' study (1961) :

  Investigated if social behaviours (aggression) can be acquired through imitation & observation. Some small kids shown aggressive model hitting bobo doll, some shown non-aggressive model & control group exposed to no model. Kids who observed aggressive model made more imitative aggressive responses than other groups.
• What is 'The real cost' campaign?

  Prevent youth from starting & continuing to use tobacco products. Adverts: 'The auctioneer'.
• Simons-Morton & Farhat (2010):

  Reviewed 40 prospective studies into relationship between peers & smoking, & found that all but 1 showed positive correlation between the 2. Similar results also found for other addictive behaviours (e.g, Maxwell, 2002). Studies were prospective so provide stronger evidence of causal relationship between the 2.
• Peer influence or peer selection?

  Do peers influence person or do people choose friends as they also engage in the behaviour? Likely that the 2 interact with eachother, although role of peer selection is often underestimated in research.
• Ennett & Bauman (1994) :


  Found that participants who were non-smokers at start of study & who had smoking friends were more likely to smoke at the follow up. Also evidence that individuals had changed membership of friendship groups in line with their smoking/non-smoking behaviour.
• Social norms marketing (SNMA) :


  If overestimation of descriptive & injunctive norms of drinking behaviour leads to students consuming more alcohol, then may be possible to design interventions to help combat this. SNMA aims to change students' perceptions of their peers drinking habits. Ad provides info (statistics) about how much students typically drink. By giving more accurate info, overestimation of social norms will be combated.
• Moore et al (2013) :


  Trial in Welsh unis used beer mats, leaflets & posters displaying info targeting descriptive & injunctive norms. E.g, used phrases like, 'Those around you are drinking less than you think-students overestimate what others drink by 44%' & 'Few of us approve of people who drink to the point of losing it'. Follow up surveys found those who recalled the materials reported lower perceived norms than those who didn't. Effects on actual drinking behaviour were less clear.
• Neighbors et al (2007) :

  Compared number of factors related to alcohol consumption & found that descriptive & injunctive norms were best predictor of alcohol consumption among sample of US college students. However they weren't best predictor of alcohol problems such as driving after drinking or fighting. Therefore although peers may influence people to engage in addictive behaviour in 1st place, other factors may be more important in influencing whether this becomes an addiction with long-term negative consequences.
• Role of other psychosocial factors:

  Too simplistic to say peers are only social factor that influences development of addictive behaviour. Kobus (2003) suggests we need to consider larger social contexts, like family & neighbourhood. Exact mechanisms involved are unclear. SLT & perceived social norms are just 2 explanations-may be other processes involved such as conformity & social identity. Hard for researchers to try & disentangle different mechanisms.
• Methodological issues:

  Majority of studies in this area involve self-report methods & correlational research. Defining peer relationships difficult-friendship groups change over time & people may associate with different people for different activities. In research into social norms, e.g, may be that students are more accurate in their perception of their best friend's drinking habits than they are of others' & therefore using term 'peer influence' is too broad. Can't conduct experimental studies on humans as it's impossible to manipulate who you're mates with.
• Smith (2012) :


  Study on rats showed they were more likely to self-administer cocaine if they were with another rat that also had access to cocaine, compared with a rat that was present but didn't have access to cocaine.