Which of the following statement regarding the effects of peer status during adolescence is false?

Peer Groups

Chapter Outline

· Adolescents spend more time talking to peers each day than any other activity
· Moods are highest when they are with friends

I. The Origins of Adolescent Peer Groups in Contemporary Society

· Adolescents in the U.S. today are more isolated from adults and children outside their age group than ever before

A. The educational origins of adolescent peer groups
o Age grading � the practice of grouping students in school by age, began in the mid-1800s
o Until the 1930s, the typical adolescent spent more time with adults and children of different ages in school

B. Work, family life, and adolescent peer groups
o Child labor laws restricted adolescents� participation in the world of work, further isolating them from adults
o Rise in maternal employment also isolated teens from adults

C. Changes in the population
o Rapid growth in teen population between 1955 and 1975, and this trend repeated itself in the 1990s � the baby boom generation
o The size of the adolescent population will warrant changes in allocation of funds for services, education, and health care
o The size of the baby boom cohort will inform scientists regarding the unique nature and characteristics of such a large generation moving through life stages

II. The Adolescent Peer Group: A Problem or a Necessity?
· Some have argued that age segregation has created a youth culture that is separate from the adult culture in its values and attitudes
· Others argue that industrialization and modernization have created a society in which the peer group is a necessary source of socialization, given the inability of adults to spend as much time with youth as they once did

A. Is there a separate youth culture?
· James Coleman, in his book The Adolescent Society (1961), argued that adolescents� motivation for academic success was significantly lower than the aspirations held for them by their parents
· In part, the peer group frowns upon academic success
· This difference is likely still true today
· The separation of adolescents from adults may have created a scenario where teens are not in touch with or in agreement with what their parents want for them
· Problems such as youth unemployment, teen suicide, juvenile delinquency, drug and alcohol abuse, and teen pregnancies may be attributed to the lack of connection between adults and teens
· Resent research might indicate that adolescents� attitudes are becoming more similar to their parents� than they were in the 60s and 70s
·  Other factors may be more responsible for the increase in problems experienced by adolescents; stress, family relocation, divorce rates, media pressure, health of the economy, etc.
· Studies of peer pressure indicate that most teens pressure them to NOT use drugs or engage in sexual activity
· They DO report pressure to drink alcohol
· Few report pressure to do well in school

B. The need for peer groups in modern society
· When norms for adult behavior vary from person to person, they are called particularistic norms
· Modern societies such as ours have universalistic norms � everyone is expected to conform to the same set of rules
· Hence, it is more appropriate that adolescents learn from a larger sphere of individuals, outside of the family
· In order to properly train youth to know the rules, it is much more efficient and effective to segregate them according to age groups (and teach each age group what they need to know when they need to know it)
· In postfigurative cultures, very little changes over time in what an adult needs to know; hence, adults can teach children all they need
· But, in cofigurative cultures, society changes enough from generation to generation that children/adolescents need to teach each other some things that adults cannot teach them
· In prefigurative cultures children need to teach adults many things, as society changes even more rapidly

C. After-school activities and adolescent peer groups: How are adolescents affected by self-care?
· �latchkey� children � home alone after school
· benefits to children, or impediments to development?
· Most studies show most latchkey children are not different than their peers
· Development of personal responsibility?
· Other research shows latchkey kids are more socially isolated, depressed, experience problem behaviors, and are more likely to use drugs and alcohol
· When parents monitor from a distance (e.g., phoning home), these teens are no more susceptible to negative outcomes

III. The Nature of Adolescent Peer Groups

A. Changes in peer groups during adolescence
· Increase in time with peers
· Increase in nomination of peers as significant others
· Increase in functioning without adult supervision
· Increase in contact with opposite-sex peers
· Reverses the childhood sex cleavage
· Emergence of large groups � �crowds�
· Crowds develop their own miniculture
· Adolescents are naturally drawn to become more intimate and involved with people who are like them internally and externally (appearance)

B. Cliques and crowds
· Small groups of 2-12 peers
· Usually same sex and age
· Promotes intimacy
· Compared to liaisons (less intimate contact) and isolates (few intimate friendships)
· One study showed fewer than half of the students were in a clique
· Girls more likely than boys; boys more likely to be isolates
· Position in social network was fairly stable over time
· Crowds are different � based on reputation and stereotype
· Purposes: locate individuals within the social structure of the school; channel teens into associations with specific teens; contexts that reward certain lifestyles and disparage others
· Membership in a clique hinges on shared activity and friendship
· Close friends don�t necessarily belong to the same crowd
· Crowds foster sense of identity and self-concept

C. Changes in clique and crowd structure over time
· Participant observation
· Early adolescence, cliques and crowds revolve around same-sex activities
· Later, opposite-sex groups interact
· Later, clique leaders become interested in opposite  sex, and then you have mixed-sex cliques
· During middle adolescence, mixed-sex cliques become more prevalent
· During late adolescence, cliques begin to disintegrate, or are replaced by the importance of couples
· Loose collection of couples
· This pattern persists into adulthood
· Facilitates development of intimacy
· Later in adolescence, the crowd structure becomes less rigid
· In 9th grade, there is a very rigid crowd structure
· BY 12th grade, the structure has loosened up
· Peer pressure is highest in 9th grade
· During early adolescence, identification with a crowd provides self-definition at a time when the adolescent is not fully capable of creating one�s own self-definition

D. The scientific study of adolescence: How �nerds� become �normals�.
· What happens to the individuals labeled as �nerds� as they move through adolescence?
· David Kinney conducted an ethnographic study of such youth in a small Midwestern city
· An ethnographic study is an in-depth, qualitative study conducted as the researcher spends considerable time immersed in the culture being studied
· Many of the junior high �nerds� Kinney studied found the ability and opportunity to become accepted by others in high school
· During high school, the peer social structure is not as rigid as it is in junior high
· The �nerds� higher level of physical and cognitive maturity in high school facilitated their greater acceptance by others

IV. Adolescents and Their Crowds

A. The social map of adolescence
· Crowds differ with regard to how involved they are in the �adult� culture, and how involved they are in the peer culture
· See figure on page 169

B. Crowds as reference groups
· Provide individuals with an identity in the eyes of peers
· Leads to judgments of each other (some ways negative)
· Self-esteem is higher in individuals who are members of crowds that have more status in the school
· Difference between ethnic groups and crowd status

V. Adolescents and Their Cliques

A. Similarity among clique members
· Segregated by age
· Segregated by sex � at first � concern about sex-appropriate gender roles � identity development
· Segregated by social class (60%)
· Segregated by race; ses, academic achievement, attitudes

B. Common interests among friends
· Adolescents and their friends tend to have similar attitudes toward school, toward the teen culture, and involvement in antisocial activities

C. The sexes: Why are there sex differences in interracial contact?
· In general, adolescents tend to have far less contact with peers of other races than of their own race
· This �race cleavage� tends to be stronger for females than males
· Some argue that the higher concern for opposite-sex attention among girls facilitates a more competitive attitude of girls toward each other
· White females are perhaps also more connected to the network of information about teachers and classes than African-American girls
· Girls are also more likely to spend time in small groups than boys, which facilitates more isolation from other groups

D. Similarity between friends: Selection or socialization
· Adolescents become friends both because of prior similarities as well as because they become like each other the more they interact (selection and socialization)
· For example, alcohol users �find each other� and influence each other to drink
· Likewise, depressed teens tend to associate with others who have depressive tendencies, and their depression is collectively worsened
· Conversely, aggressive teens with few or no aggressive friends become less aggressive over time

1. Stability of adolescent cliques
· Small groups are only moderately stable over the school year
· They become more stable during late high school

VI. Popularity and Rejection in Adolescent Peer Groups
· Social skill is the most important determinant of popularity among one�s peers
· Popular teens act appropriately, in the eyes of their peers, are good at discerning the needs of others, and are confident without being �stuck up�
· They are also friendly, cheerful, good-natured, humorous, and smart
· Being popular does not necessarily equate with having many friends, but this is often the case
· Popular teens are more likely to have intimate friendships, be active in social activities, and receive more social recognition
· Social scientists distinguish between three other types of �popularity status� teens: aggressive, withdrawn, and aggressive-withdrawn
· Aggressive teens are more likely to fight, be antisocial, and bully others
· Withdrawn teens are shy and timid, likely to be victims of bullying
· Aggressive-withdrawn teens have difficulty controlling their hostility, but are nervous about initiating social contact with others
· Nicki Crick has studied the aggressive tendencies of girls; they are more likely to use relational aggression � intended to harm others through deliberate manipulation of their social standing and social relationships
· Girls are more likely to exclude others from social activities, harming their reputation with others, and withdrawing attention and friendship
· Peer rejection is predictive of later depression, behavior and academic difficulties
· Aggressive teens tend to end up associating with other aggressive teens
· Withdrawn teens tend to isolate themselves and experience low self-esteem, depression, and stunted social competence
· Aggressive-withdrawn teens are at the greatest risk for psychological and behavioral problems
· Aggressive children tend to have a hostile attributional bias � they tend to perceive that others have negative attitudes and intentions toward them � and they respond to perceived �slights� with aggression
· Withdrawn children often hover around groups of children, not knowing how to join, making other uncomfortable and making themselves targets for bullying
· Social skills training programs for these youth have been shown to be effective

VII. The Peer Group and Psychosocial Development
(just a summary)
 

Important Terms, Concepts and Individuals

The following terms are listed as they appear in the chapter:

 peer groups                                latchkey youngsters
 age grading                                 significant others
 baby boom                                  sex cleavage
 cohort                                       cliques
 Generation X                             crowds
 youth culture                              participant observation
 James Coleman                         reference groups
 particularistic norms                  August Hollingshead
 universalistic norms                   social class
 Margaret Mead                        gangs
 postfigurative cultures               popularity
 cofigurative cultures                 relational aggression
 prefigurative cultures                  hostile attributional bias

Study Questions

1. What changes have occurred in the following contexts that have made peers a more  important socialization influence in the lives of adolescents:

  school?

  work?

  family?

2. In what ways is the peer group a positive influence on adolescent development?

3. In what ways is the peer group a negative influence on adolescent development?

4. What do we know about the costs and benefits of self-care in adolescence?

5. How does the peer group change during adolescence?

6. What is a clique?

7. What is the purpose of a clique?

8. What is a crowd?

9. What is the purpose of a crowd?

10. How does the structure of the clique change during adolescence?

11. How does the structure of the crowd change during adolescence?

12. How do changes in clique and crowd structure support psychosocial development  during adolescence?

13. What is the Rigby and McDill approach to mapping adolescent crowds?  (Note  where different crowds fit.)

14. How do crowds differ in regard to peer pressure and status?  How do these  differences influence psychosocial well-being?

15. How are clique members usually similar?

16. What roles do selection and socialization play in the similarity of adolescent friends?

17. How are popular adolescents different from unpopular adolescents?

18. How is popularity and unpopularity linked with psychosocial adjustment?

19. What are the three types of unpopular adolescents?

20. How does aggressive behavior in females differ from aggressive behavior in males?

21. What are the negative consequences of peer unpopularity? (Remember to  distinguish between the three type.)

22. What is a hostile attributional bias?  How does it function in peer unpopularity?

23. What are the different techniques used to help unpopular adolescents?

Multiple Choice Questions - Please circle the correct answer.

1. Groups of people who are roughly the same age are:
 a. peer groups
 b. reference groups
 c. cohorts
 d. gangs

2. The structure of American schooling began to have a significant impact on  adolescent peer groups after:
 a. 1890
 b. 1910
 c. 1930
 d. 1960

3. The percentage of the U.S. population comprising 15 to 19 year olds reached its  highest level in:
 a. 1955
 b. 1965
 c. 1975
 d. 1985

4. Who believed that American adolescents had created a separate and troublesome  youth culture?
 a. Margaret Mead
 b. August Hollingshead
 c. Laurence Steinberg
 d. James Coleman

5. Particularistic norms are found in ______ regions.
 a. rural
 b. industrialized
 c. kinship based
 d. suburban

6. Young people are socialized primarily by elders in:
 a. prefigurative cultures
 b. cofigurative cultures
 c. postfigurative cultures
 d. postmodern cultures

7. Adolescents assisting adults with computer technology would be found in:
 a. prefigurative cultures
 b. cofigurative cultures
 c. postfigurative cultures
 d. postmodern cultures

8. __________ emphasized the positive socialization influence that adolescent have on  their peers.
 a. Margaret Mead
 b. August Hollingshead
 c. Laurence Steinberg
 d. James Coleman

9. A reputation based collective of peers is called:
 a. crowd
 b. clique
 c. reference groups
 d. cohort

10. A research technique commonly used to study the functioning of adolescent peer  groups is:
 a. structured observation
 b. participant observation
 c. naturalistic observation
 d. unstructured observation

11. In Brown's scheme of social mapping, a crowd that is high in involvement in peer  culture, and high in involvement in adult institutions is:
 a. jocks
 b. druggies
 c. nerds
 d. partiers

12. Which developmental period does this statement best reflect, "during this period  the clique becomes less important as couples begin to form"?
 a. Early adolescence
 b. Mid adolescence
 c. Late adolescence
 d. Young adulthood
 

13. Income, residence and reputation in the community are used to determine:
 a. social definition
 b. social cleavage
 c. social standing
 d. social class

14. A deviant peer group that can be identified by name and common symbols is a:
 a. clique
 b. crowd
 c. gang
 d. cohort

15. Popularity is most highly associated with:
 a. physical appearance
 b. personality
 c. financial background
 d. social skill

16. Adolescents who are rejected by peers due to aggressive behavior are more likely to  be treated for:
 a. low self-esteem
 b. depression
 c. conduct problems
 d. anxiety disorders

17. Thinking that other children's behavior is aggressive when it is not is referred to as:
 a. relational aggression
 b. hostile attributional bias
 c. antisocial mind set
 d. aggressive stereotyping

18. Baby boomers are to Generation X as the 1950s are to the ______.
 a. 1940s
 b. 1960s
 c. 1970s
 d. 1980s

19. Generally, it has been found that adolescents in self-care:
 a. perform better in school than adolescents who are supervised by adults after   school;
 b. are more self-reliant than adolescents who are supervised by adults after    school;
 c. experience lower self-esteem than adolescents who are supervised by adults   after school;
 d. are more likely to use drugs and alcohol than adolescents who are     supervised by adults after school.

20. Inclusion in the following adolescent group is typically based on friendship and  shared activity:
 a. crowd
 b. clique
 c. cohort
 d. reference group

21. Which crowd members are most likely to have high self-esteem?
 a. Toughs
 b. Druggies
 c. Socies
 d. Partiers

22. Who carried out the classic study looking at social position and the composition of  adolescent cliques?
 a. Margaret Mead
 b. August Hollingshead
 c. Laurence Steinberg
 d. James Coleman

23. The research technique that involves observing, interviewing and writing field notes  is commonly referred to as __________.
 a. participant observation
 b. ethnography
 c. structured observation
 d. naturalistic observation

24. As one progresses through adolescence, crowds ______ permeable.
 a. become more
 b. become less
 c. are similarly
 d. are never

25. Which adolescent is at the greatest risk for psychological and behavioral problems: a. an adolescent that is socially skilled
 b. an adolescent that is withdrawn
 c. an adolescent that is aggressive
 d. an adolescent that is aggressive and withdrawn

True/False Questions - Mark each statement either True (T) or False (F).

1. Peer groups are unique to industrialized cultures.

2. The practice of age grading is used so that adolescents can spend time with peers.

3. Generally, adolescents value academic success over athletic skill.

4. Universalistic norms apply equally to all members of a community.

5. The United States is currently a co-figurative culture.

6. Adolescents in self-care are more depressed than other youngsters.

7. Adolescents who belong to the same crowd tend to know and like each other.

8. Cliques, in early adolescence, are comprised of individuals who are the same age,  gender and social class.

9. According to Brown's social map of crowds, "nerds" would be low in involvement  in peer culture, but high in involvement in adult institutions.

10. The process of anti-social peer group formation starts in the home.

11. Adolescent cliques are moderately stable in regard to membership.

12. Adolescents who are "book smart" are more popular than adolescents who aren't.

13. Eder found that young adolescent females who were popular were viewed as "stuck  up" by those who were less popular.

14. Rejected, withdrawn adolescents tend to engage in more anti-social behaviors than  other adolescents.

15. Males are more likely than females to use relational aggression.

16. American adolescents spend more talking to their friends each day than on any other  activity.

17. James Coleman believed that American adolescents have a positive influence on  each other.

18. An adolescent showing her father how to use the internet would be a common scene  in a postfigurative culture.

19. One reason why American adolescents tend to have more contact with each other is  the rate of maternal employment in the United States.

20. In the year 2000, adolescents age 15 to 19 will comprise about 15 percent of the  population in the United States.

21. In industrialized cultures, children are best taught about societal norms and  standards within the family.

22. Steinberg and others have found that parental monitoring plays an important role in  the well-being of latchkey youth.

23. The term "sex cleavage" refers to the differences in activities preferred by males and  females.

24. A recent study found that young adolescent females are more likely to be members  of a clique than young adolescent males.

25. Mixed sex cliques tend to emerge during mid-adolescence.

26. It has become more and more apparent that the adolescent peer structure is best  described as a single youth culture.

27. The adolescent crowd serves as a reference group for its members.

28. Fordham and Ogbu found that African American youth that were high achievers  were ridiculed for "acting White".

29. Adolescents tend to clique with other adolescents that have a similar orientation to  school.

30. Rejected, aggressive adolescents tend to think that other people's actions are hostile even when they are not.

Matching Questions - Choose the term that most accurately fits the description.

___ 1. adolescents in self-care                                                   a. peer groups
___ 2. groups of people who are                                                 b. age grading
roughly the same age                                                                 c. baby boom
___ 3. cultures where young people are                                      d. cohort
socialized by their elders and peers                                               e. James Coleman
___ 4. based on income, residence and                                        f. particularistic norms
reputation in the community                                                          g. universalistic norms
___ 5. a group of individuals born during                                      h. Margaret Mead
a given era                                                                                 i. cofigurative  cultures
___ 6. research technique where researcher                                j. prefigurative cultures
joins the group                                                                           k. latchkey youngsters
___ 7. people who are most important to a                                   l. significant others
given individual                                                                           m. cliques
___ 8. small groups of two to 12                                                 n. crowds
individuals of same age and sex                                                   o. participant observation
___ 9. how well liked an individual is                                           p. August Hollingshead
___ 10. the tendency to interpret anothers                                    q. social class
behavior as aggressive                                                                r. popularity
___ 11. studied social class and the                                             s. relational aggression
composition of cliques                                                                 t. hostile attributional bias
___ 12. the practice of grouping students of
the same age together in school
___ 13. the increase in births following
World War II
___ 14. believed that adolescents had formed
a separate youth culture
___ 15. norms for behavior that vary from
person to person
___ 16. emphasized the positive influence of
peers in industrialized cultures
___ 17. reputation-based groups of
adolescents (nerds, druggies)
___ 18. aggression intended to harm others
through altering social standing
___ 19. cultures in which young people
teach their elders
___ 20. rules for behavior that apply
equally to all community members

Answer Key
 

Multiple Choice Questions

1. a   11. a   21. c
2. c   12. c   22. b
3. c   13. d   23. b
4. d   14. c   24. a
5. c   15. d   25. d
6. c   16. c
7. a   17. b
8. a   18. d
9. a   19. d
10. b   20. b
 

True/False Questions

1. F   11. T   21. F
2. F   12. F   22. T
3. F   13. T   23. F
4. T   14. F   24. T
5. T   15. F   25. T
6. T   16. T   26. F
7. F   17. F   27. T
8. T   18. F   28. T
9. T   19. T   29. T
10. T   20. F   30. T
 

Matching Questions

1. k   11. p
2. a   12. b
3. i   13. c
4. q   14. e
5. d   15. f
6. o   16. h
7. l   17. n
8. m   18. s
9. r   19. j
10. t   20. g
 

What is the best explanation as to why aggressive peer rejected boys have social problems?

In what way s do parents influence the selection of teen friendships quizlet?

Which statement explains why some children are liked by their peers more than others?

Which of the basic social needs identified by Sullivan intensifies in early adolescence?