PSYC 2321 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Age Segregation, Relational Aggression, Wendy Craig
Chapter 5: Peers
• Peer -Someone who is at roughly the same level in age, social status (although there are hierarchies
even within peer groups), or level of functioning with another. Serve as a source of information, as a
standard of comparison, and as a source of praise and criticism. Old French word, “pair” which means
“even” or “equal.”
• Clique- is a small, intimate group of teens linked by friendship and common activities.
• Crowd- is based more on reputation and interests.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PEERS
Peers becomes more important than family during adolescence
Peers are less bossy and critical. They try new ideas, skills and roles together
Children start interacting with other children when they are still babies, as early as the middle of
the first year. By the time they are toddlers of 2 or 2 1/2, the way they play together shows clear
imitation and complementary roles
Learn about teamwork, cooperation, compromise, taking turns, sharing, and other essential social
skills
North American adolescents spend from two to four times as many of their waking hours
interacting with peers as with parents, siblings, or anyone else
Source of moments of both great joy and deep distress
Peers Across Cultures
Social scientists Alice Schlegel and Walter Berry III (1991) surveyed information on adolescence
in 186 different societies outside the industrial West and found that forming friendship is intense
during adolescence in all culture.
In the traditional societies: Boys are more oriented toward peers, and away from parents, than
girls are. Girls also have a smaller number of same-age, same-sex friends than boys. These are
seen not the only in humans but also in other species such as apes and monkeys. Some theorists
interpret this development as a biological device that cuts down on the risks of incest and
inbreeding, while evolutionary theorists believe that because males are not yet strong enough to
defend themselves against a jealous adult they stay away from adult society and band together
with same age for mutual protection.
Traditional societies such as in India teens continue to spend much of their time with parents,
other adults, and younger children while in North American and European teens spend more time
with peers than with family members or other adults.
Many factors have contributed to this shift from family to peers, including: The trend toward
smaller families, which gives children and adolescents fewer siblings to be with. The trend
toward dual-earner families, which means that much of the time parents are not on hand. And
Social trends such as urbanization, which create a larger pool of accessible children who are
similar in age.
• Age segregation- The social custom of grouping people, such as children and adolescents, on the
basis of their chronological age. This exists in school grading, school promoting and even in formal
out-of-school activities such as Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. This affects the choice of friends a
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person can choose; if this did exist and children and adolescence were left alone they would spend the
same or much time with some who is younger or older than them.
• Generation gap- the idea that there is a sharp divide between the value systems and goals of
adolescents and adults. Results to conflict between adolescents and parents mostly about matters of
preference and taste, how to dress, how to spend time, who to spend it with but on the big questions,
such as personal beliefs, goals, and values, adolescents tend to hold views that are quite similar to
those of their parents. (Baby Boom after World War II had an effect)
• James Coleman- book “The Adolescent Society” described a monolithic world of adolescents that had
its own value system directly against adult values.
• Margaret Mead- an anthropologist who described the ways that the pace of social and technological
change could alter the relations between generations. “Pace of change within cultures”. She also gave
names to the different cultural forms that result:
1. Postfigurative culture- A culture in which social change is slow and younger generations need and
learn knowledge and skills from their elders. (Sewing)
2. Cofigurative culture- A culture in which social change is fairly rapid and both older and younger
generations come to have knowledge and skills that the other needs to acquire. (Equal)
3. Prefigurative culture- A culture in which social change is very rapid and older generations need to
replace obsolete knowledge and skills and learn from the younger generation. (Technology)
Starting roughly with the Industrial Revolution, Western societies have moved from being
primarily postfigurative to mostly cofigurative. There may even be emerging elements of
prefigurative culture.
• Youth culture- the idea that adolescents as a group have customs, values, and beliefs that separate
them from the culture of adults.
Adults who observe the group from the outside, the similarities among its members may be
more obvious than the differences. Teens also feel internal and external pressures to dress, act,
and think the way they believe “people like them” and commercial affect adolescents.
Western styles from films, video games, clothing, cosmetics, and even slang expressions affects
globally however, this does not mean that teens worldwide or even in the subcultures give their
allegiance to a single youth culture. The uniform of jeans, T-shirt, and name-brand runners may
look the same, but goals, values, cultural assumptions, and beliefs about the world vary widely.
In fact, research shows there is much more variety between teens and other teens in terms of
values and beliefs than between parents and teens, so perhaps the idea that there is one youth
culture is quite misleading!
PATHS OF PEER INFLUENCE
• Conformity - Doing as others are doing or as others urge one to do, whether or not it fits with
personal inclinations, values, and beliefs.
a. Normative social influence - Acting like others because there is a social norm that prescribes
doing as others do. To rules. “To be liked or accepted” [Solomon Asch “comparison of line”]
b. Informational social influence - Acting like others because of a belief that others have better
information about the correct thing to do. “To be correct” [looking up to a tree]
These two varieties of social influence can occur together and often do. Consider the flurry of
phone calls before a school dance, as teens compare notes on what they are planning to wear.
Finding out that everyone is dressing a certain way is vital information that tells you the general
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level of dressiness. It is also a source of implicit pressure to meet the expectation that you will
dress like the others, whether you really want to or not. Or New York elevator situation.
• Reference group - A set of people that someone looks to for information (normative or comparative)
about what to do and what constitutes doing well, as well as evaluative comments and praise. Peers as
Reference Groups serve as models for how to act, what to value, what attitudes to hold, and so on;
and audience that observes, evaluates, and reacts to what the individual does and says.
Audience reference group- (coach, teammates, friends, and family). Peers (audience) as
Reference group are Boosters (praises) and Criticizers (criticizes). They provide evaluative
feedback that guides us toward more adaptive behaviour. They also serve as emotional rewards
and punishments that motivate more adaptive behaviour. Can also be just an imaginary audience
(Elkind)
Comparative reference group- comparison to others ex. look to others at one’s own level.
(audience)
Social comparison- The process of comparing one’s status or performance with that of a
particular reference group to figure out how to respond to it emotionally.
Self-reinforcement - Rewarding or punishing oneself for what one considers a good or bad
outcome of one’s actions.
Normative reference group- A member of the high school tennis team might use top-seeded players
and international stars as reference group (models)
Social links and affiliations affect teen to choose which reference group to follow. ([self-
chosen affiliations] dancer-dancer) ([not self-chosen affiliation] ethnocultural or religious
traditions)
❖ Social cognitive theory (Bandura) factors that predict which models are imitated more:
➢ Similarity. We are more likely to observe and imitate those who seem to be like us.
➢ Status. We are more likely to observe and imitate those who are admired or successful.
➢ Social power. We are more likely to observe and imitate those who control resources that are
important to us, such as praise and criticism.
These factors sometimes work together and sometimes work in opposition to one another.
Sometimes the high status of a reference group counts for more than the degree of similarity or
dissimilarity.
Wannabes- are persons who try to be like someone else or to fit in with a particular group of people in
spite of a big similarity gap.
Alpha pup- Refers to the coolest kid on the block, it is a term used by market researchers to describe
the ideal market. For example, "If the alpha pups like it, we can roll out nationwide. (market
researcher reach the alpha pup by asking who is the coolest person to random person until they finally
reach the alpha pup)
Our sense of self is based, at least in part, on the way our peers see and respond to us. Keeping on
the good side of the peer group is a matter of psychological self-protection, especially for those
teens with low self-esteem and can sometimes be a question of physical self-protection as well
(Evolutionary perspective)
• Need to belong – is the drive to be part of the social group and to feel accepted by others.
Adolescents, and indeed all of us, have a powerful need to belong
Peers and Parents
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Document Summary
Chapter 5: peers: peer -someone who is at roughly the same level in age, social status (although there are hierarchies even within peer groups), or level of functioning with another. Serve as a source of information, as a standard of comparison, and as a source of praise and criticism. Even or equal. : clique- is a small, intimate group of teens linked by friendship and common activities, crowd- is based more on reputation and interests. Peers becomes more important than family during adolescence. They try new ideas, skills and roles together. Children start interacting with other children when they are still babies, as early as the middle of the first year. By the time they are toddlers of 2 or 2 1/2, the way they play together shows clear imitation and complementary roles. Learn about teamwork, cooperation, compromise, taking turns, sharing, and other essential social skills.
