Social norms in adolescent risk engagement and recommendation |
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Authors: | Simon Ciranka Wouter van den Bos |
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Institution: | 1. Max Planck institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany;2. Max Planck institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Berlin, Germany
University of Amsterdam, Netherlands |
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Abstract: | Social influence is an important determinant of adolescent risk-taking, but little is known about how social norms contribute to adolescents’ tendency to recommend and engage in risky behaviours. Using the Adolescent Risk-taking Questionnaire, we assessed subjects’ (n = 198, age = 10–26) propensity to engage in and recommend risk-taking as well as their perception of risk norms. Adolescents recommended risk-taking more often compared to children and young adults. Perceived social norms were the most important factor predicting engagement in risky behaviours, and adolescents perceived risk-taking to be more normative than children or adults. Our findings highlight two mechanisms that contribute to adolescent risk-taking, active recommendation and perceived social norms. On this basis, we discuss potential means to attenuate excessive adolescent risk-taking. |
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Keywords: | adolescence risk-taking social norms |
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