Changes in Peer Groups In Adolescence

1
Changes in Peer Groups In Adolescence

• ESM method (Larson et al.) Time family
  decreases, time with peers increases across
  adolescence
• Buhrmester and colleagues
• Adolescents ages 13-16 avg 28 mins/day with
  parents
• Time with friends avg. 103 minutes/day

2
Who is Your Main Source of Support?

• Furman Buhrmester, 1992
• 4th Graders Parents are main source of support
• 7th Graders Same sex friends parents
• 10th Graders Same sex friends gt parents
• College Romantic partners main source
• A Dutch study With whom do you communicate about
  personal feelings? (Teens ages 15-19 years)
• 50 listed a best friend or relationship
  partner, 20 listed a parent (only 3 named
  fathers)
• But, higher trust in parents, and confiding in
  parents, positively correlated with
  trust/confiding in peers

3
Teens with Peers vs. Parents

• Youniss Smollar (1985) Approx 70 said
• My close friend understands me better than my
  parents
• I learn more from my close friends than my
  parents
• Im more myself with close friends than parents
• Larson Richards (94)
• Its easier to talk about feelingsespecially
  about romantic relationshipswith friends
• More emotional highs with friends than parents,
  being wild or silly
• Also, a great deal of worry/insecurity about how
  much they are accepted by friends, peers
• Triangles in peer relationships

4
Intimacy in Friendships

• Sullivan (1953) Chum at age 10
• Special same sex friend, because of developing
  abilities for empathy and perspective taking.
  Important practice for later intimate
  relationships.
• In adolescence, a friend is someone who
• You can confide in, share your problems with
• Really listens to you
• Understands you
• Loyalty and trust are very important
• Developing cognitive abilities for abstract
  thought help explain the developmental shift
• E.g., loyalty, trust, sharing complexities in
  relationships

5
Gender Differences in Friendships

• Compared with boys Girls spend more time talking
  to friends, view talking as more important in a
  friendship
• Girls rate friends as higher in affection,
  helpfulness, and nurturance, than boys ratings
  of friends
• Girls more likely to say they trust, feel close
  to friend
• Boys more likely to emphasize shared activities
  as basis of friendship

6
Peer Influences

• Are peer influences on one anothers risky
  behaviors (peer pressure) overrated?
• Adolescents choose friends who are already
  similar to them on risk behaviors
• Friends become more similar on risk over time
• Includes substance abuse, aggression
• Influences can also promote non-risk behavior
• Friends can influence you not to do drugs/alcohol
• Pressure towards risky behavior rated by teens as
  weaker peer influence than pressure to conform to
  style of dress/hair, participating in school
  activities

7
Cliques

• Small groups of friends (often 4 - 6)
• Small enough so members know each other well,
  cohesive
• Sometimes defined by shared activities (e.g.,
  music, sports), sometimes just a friendship group
  
• It is the main social group for adolescents, for
  friendship, support, and hanging out
• Typically same-sex and age, enjoy same activities
  (including risky ones)
• Not all youth are members of cliques.
• Some have contacts with multiple cliques. Some
  have little contact with any clique.

8
Crowds

• Large groups of similarly stereotyped youth.
• (E.g. jocks, populars, nerds, headbangers,
  druggies)
• What function do crowds serve??
• Developmental features
• Require capacity for abstraction (categorize
  attitudes, popularity)
• Crowds increase in number, become more
  differentiated, from middle school to high school
• Influence of crowds declines in later
  adolescence. Crowds may even be seen as a
  hindrance to ones individuality.
• Teens may not accept or like their crowd
  identities

9
Relational Aggression

• Expressing anger in non-physical, or indirect
  ways
• More common among girls
• Includes
• Sarcasm ridicule
• Controls others behavior, conformity,
  strengthens group identity
• Gossip rumors
• Excluding from clique