
Mechanisms of peer influence among adolescents: cohesion versus structural equivalence
- Author
- Hans Berten (UGent) and Ronan Van Rossem (UGent)
- Organization
- Abstract
- Peer influence is regarded as one of the strongest determinants of adolescents’ behavior. Yet the concept of peer influence has been studied almost exclusively in terms of dyadic friendship relations. Based on actors’ similar positions in the friendship network, the authors test an alternative mechanism of influence in this article, drawing on insights from network-inspired theories. This study focuses on both sexual activity and school deviant behavior. The authors used data from the Flemish Educational Assessment Study, which collected complete network data from a representative sample of Flemish secondary school adolescents (N = 11,872), clustered in 160 networks. Results indicate that best friends influence both adolescents’ sexual activity and their school deviancy. However, the authors found no evidence of influence between actors who share a similar position in the network.
- Keywords
- CIGARETTE-SMOKING, DELINQUENT PEERS, FRIENDSHIP NETWORKS, MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT, SOCIAL-INFLUENCE, CLOSE FRIEND, ALCOHOL-USE, DRUG-USE, BEHAVIOR, SCHOOL, adolescence, peer influence, cohesion, structural equivalence, deviant behavior, sexual activity
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-1847163
- MLA
- Berten, Hans, and Ronan Van Rossem. “Mechanisms of Peer Influence among Adolescents: Cohesion versus Structural Equivalence.” SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES, vol. 54, no. 2, 2011, pp. 183–204, doi:10.1525/sop.2011.54.2.183.
- APA
- Berten, H., & Van Rossem, R. (2011). Mechanisms of peer influence among adolescents: cohesion versus structural equivalence. SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES, 54(2), 183–204. https://doi.org/10.1525/sop.2011.54.2.183
- Chicago author-date
- Berten, Hans, and Ronan Van Rossem. 2011. “Mechanisms of Peer Influence among Adolescents: Cohesion versus Structural Equivalence.” SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES 54 (2): 183–204. https://doi.org/10.1525/sop.2011.54.2.183.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Berten, Hans, and Ronan Van Rossem. 2011. “Mechanisms of Peer Influence among Adolescents: Cohesion versus Structural Equivalence.” SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES 54 (2): 183–204. doi:10.1525/sop.2011.54.2.183.
- Vancouver
- 1.Berten H, Van Rossem R. Mechanisms of peer influence among adolescents: cohesion versus structural equivalence. SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES. 2011;54(2):183–204.
- IEEE
- [1]H. Berten and R. Van Rossem, “Mechanisms of peer influence among adolescents: cohesion versus structural equivalence,” SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES, vol. 54, no. 2, pp. 183–204, 2011.
@article{1847163, abstract = {{Peer influence is regarded as one of the strongest determinants of adolescents’ behavior. Yet the concept of peer influence has been studied almost exclusively in terms of dyadic friendship relations. Based on actors’ similar positions in the friendship network, the authors test an alternative mechanism of influence in this article, drawing on insights from network-inspired theories. This study focuses on both sexual activity and school deviant behavior. The authors used data from the Flemish Educational Assessment Study, which collected complete network data from a representative sample of Flemish secondary school adolescents (N = 11,872), clustered in 160 networks. Results indicate that best friends influence both adolescents’ sexual activity and their school deviancy. However, the authors found no evidence of influence between actors who share a similar position in the network.}}, author = {{Berten, Hans and Van Rossem, Ronan}}, issn = {{0731-1214}}, journal = {{SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES}}, keywords = {{CIGARETTE-SMOKING,DELINQUENT PEERS,FRIENDSHIP NETWORKS,MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT,SOCIAL-INFLUENCE,CLOSE FRIEND,ALCOHOL-USE,DRUG-USE,BEHAVIOR,SCHOOL,adolescence,peer influence,cohesion,structural equivalence,deviant behavior,sexual activity}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{2}}, pages = {{183--204}}, title = {{Mechanisms of peer influence among adolescents: cohesion versus structural equivalence}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/sop.2011.54.2.183}}, volume = {{54}}, year = {{2011}}, }
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