1. An experimental investigation of the influence of deviant peers on own deviancy: A replication study
- Author
-
Mercer, N., Crocetti, E., Meeus, W., Branje, S., Leerstoel Branje, Leerstoel Meeus, Adolescent development: Characteristics and determinants, DIPARTIMENTO DI PSICOLOGIA 'RENZO CANESTRARI', AREA MIN. 11 - Scienze storiche, filosofiche, pedagogiche e psicologiche, Da definire, Mercer, N., Crocetti, E., Meeus, W., Branje, S., Leerstoel Branje, Leerstoel Meeus, and Adolescent development: Characteristics and determinants
- Subjects
education ,behavioral disciplines and activities ,Article ,Developmental psychology ,Experiment ,Replication (statistics) ,mental disorders ,Juvenile delinquency ,Peer influence ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Causality ,Delinquency ,Deviancy ,Peer delinquency ,Law ,Young adult ,0505 law ,Recall ,05 social sciences ,Incentive ,050501 criminology ,Psychology ,Social psychology ,050104 developmental & child psychology - Abstract
Objectives This study is a replication of a study examining the causal impact of a brief exposure to deviant peers on own deviant behavior, i.e., Paternoster et al. (Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 50:476–503, 2013). This study retested this design using different monetary incentives and a female deviant peer. Methods A total of 69 university students (61% female) from the Netherlands participated in this laboratory-based study (Mage = 20.64; SD = 2.00) under the façade of a study on individual differences predicting memory recall. Participants could earn up to 10 euros. All participants had the opportunity to cheat to illegitimately earn more money (deviancy). Participants in the experimental condition were exposed to a deviant peer who verbalized her intention to cheat, justified this behavior, and then visibly cheated on the memory recall task. Results Although participants in both conditions engaged in some deviancy, the brief exposure to a deviant peer significantly increased the amount of deviancy compared to participants who were not exposed to a deviant peer. These results were consistent after controlling for different demographic and theoretical control variables that predict deviancy. Conclusions Although not identical in magnitude, our results echo those found by Paternoster et al. (2013): Even a brief exposure to a previously unknown deviant peer increases the amount of deviant behavior in young adults. Future research should examine factors predicting the susceptibility to (different types and thresholds of) deviant peer influence. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s11292-017-9305-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
- Published
- 2019