Citation

McCoy SS, Natsuaki MN. J. Soc. Psychol. 2018; 158(2): 139-151.

Affiliation

b University of California Riverside.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00224545.2017.1294139

PMID

28300488

Abstract

This study investigated changes in risk-taking propensity on a behavioral decision-making task as a function of varying social conditions with peers. In contrast to the effects of direct peer influence (pro-risk and anti-risk messages by peers), we included a socially ambiguous context (neutral messages by peers) and a no-peer control (participants alone) as comparison conditions. Using a counterbalanced mixed factorial design, college students (N = 187) completed the Balloon Analogue Risk Task-Youth (BART-Y) twice during two consecutive sessions, including once alone and once with a confederate; the control group completed two sessions of the task alone. The findings showed that, in general, direct pro-risk messages led to the most robust and consistent changes in risk-taking. The findings are discussed in terms of the multidimensional and multidirectional nature of peer influence during the college years.

Language: en

Keywords

BART; decision-making; peers; risk-taking