Being surrounded by peers who are accepting of aggression is a significant predictor of the development and persistence of aggression in childhood and adolescence. Whereas past research has focused on social reinforcement mechanisms as the underlying processes, the present longitudinal study analysed the role of external control beliefs as an…

Eighty subjects in grades 5, 7, 9, and 12 spontaneously nominated peers as the most acceptable reference group for social judgment; adults outside the family as a reference group for informational judgment; and parents as the best referent for moral judgment. (Author/CP)

Adolescents (n=650) rated 10 activities involving drug and alcohol use, unprotected sexual intercourse, and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol in 6 domains concerning risk to self or others, pleasure, control, peer approval, and parental disapproval. A factor analysis of the items revealed three second-order factors: inherent danger,…