Measuring Peer Pressure, Popularity, and Conformity in Adolescent Boys and Girls: Predicting School Performance, Sexual Attitudes, and Substance Abuse

• NCJ Number: 183223
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 29 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2000 Pages: 163-182
• Author(s): Darcy A. Santor; Deanna Messervey; Vivek Kusumakar
• Date Published: April 2000
• Length: 20 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study evaluates measures of peer pressure and peer conformity for adolescents and the degree to which those constructs are related to well-being and risk behaviors.

Abstract

Existing measures of peer pressure and conformity may not be suitable for efficiently screening large numbers of adolescents, and few studies have differentiated peer pressure from theoretically related constructs such as conformity or wanting to be popular. This study developed and validated short measures of peer pressure, peer conformity, and popularity in a sample (n = 148) of adolescent boys and girls in grades 11 to 13. All measures constructed for the study were internally consistent. Although all measures of peer pressure, conformity and popularity were intercorrelated, peer pressure and peer conformity were stronger predictors of risk behaviors than measures assessing popularity, general conformity or dysphoria. Both peer pressure and peer conformity can be measured with short scales suitable for large-scale testing. Tables, appendix, references