Peer Observing on Early Adolescent Risk-Taking Behavior:The Role of Distance and Quantity
Two experiments were conducted by using the Balloon Analog Risk Task(BART)to examine the influence of peer observing,peer distance,and number of peers on early adolescent risk-taking behavior.Experiment 1 recruited 90 junior high school students to explore the effects of peer onsite observing versus online observing on adolescent risk-taking behavior.Compared to the solitary situation,we found that peer observing increased adolescent risk-taking behavior and that adolescents'risk-taking level was higher when peer was onsite than when peer was observing online.Experiment 2 recruited 81 junior high school students to examine the effects of mode and amount of peer presence on adolescents'risk-taking behavior.The results revealed that adolescents'risk-taking level was higher when peers observed next to each other than when peers observed across from each other,which was higher than when peers were only present.Adolescents'risk-taking levels were higher when two peers were present than when one peer was present.The study demonstrates that closer peer distance and a greater number of peers increased adolescent risk-taking behaviors,which proves the applicability of dual-systems theory in explaining adolescent risk-taking behavior in peer context,and reveals the important role of peer presence on adolescent risk-taking behavior.
adolescentsrisk-taking behaviorpeer observingdual systems theory
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