Work

Age‐related differences in social influence on risk perception depend on the direction of influence

Year: 2017

Type: article

Abstract: Adolescents are particularly susceptible to social influence. Here, we investigated the effect of social influence on risk perception in 590 participants aged eight to fifty-nine-years tested in the United Kingdom. Participants rated the riskiness of everyday situations, were then informed about the rating of these situations from a (fictitious) social-influence group consisting of teenagers or adults, and then re-evaluated the situation. Our first aim was to attempt to replicate our previous finding that young adolescents are influenced more by teenagers than by adults. Second, we investigated the social-influence effect when the social-influence group's rating was more, or less, risky than the participants' own risk rating. Younger participants were more strongly influenced by teenagers than by adults, but only when teenagers rated a situation as more risky than did participants. This suggests that stereotypical characteristics of the social-influence group - risk-prone teenagers - interact with social influence on risk perception.

Source: Journal of Adolescence

DOI: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2017.07.002

Authors: Lisa J. Knoll, Jovita T. Leung, Lucy Foulkes, Sarah‐Jayne Blakemore

Institution: University College London

Language: English

Topic: Risk Perception and Management

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,366