Citation

Tian L, Dong X, Xia D, Liu L, Wang D. Int. J. Psychol. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

School of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, International Union of Psychological Science, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/ijop.12611

PMID

31339180

Abstract

Prior research suggests that the presence of peers increases adolescents' risk-taking. However, it is not clear whether the effect of peer presence is moderated by individual characteristics such as self-esteem, since individuals with low self-esteem are more susceptible to peer influence theoretically. The present study examined this problem using an adapted Stoplight Game in an experiment. A final sample of 140 adolescent students aged 14-18 (M = 16.25 ± 0.73 years, 61 girls), divided into two groups-low self-esteem and high self-esteem, according to their self-esteem scores, completed a risk-taking task either alone or in the presence of a same-sex peer. The results indicated that peer presence increased adolescents' risk-taking, specifically for those with low self-esteem, while those with high self-esteem were not affected by peer presence. The findings are helpful for our understanding of peer influence on adolescent risk-taking and the moderating role of the self and have practical implications for preventing and intervening adolescents' risk-taking via increasing their self-esteem.

© 2019 International Union of Psychological Science.

Language: en

Keywords

Adolescents; Peer presence; Risk-taking behaviour; Self-esteem