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Processes of Peer Influences in Adolescence

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Development as Action in Context

Abstract

Adolescence is traditionally considered to be the period in life when peer influences are most intense. Because adolescents are still members of parental family units and occupy the social roles of children toward whom parents have since their births exerted important socialization functions, a basic issue in adolescent socialization is the extent to which adolescent development proceeds in response to peer or to parental influences (Brofenbrenner, 1970; Hartup, 1979; Kandel & Lesser, 1972). A pervasive notion is that there is a “generation gap”, with adolescents assumed to function completely independent and in opposition to the world of adults. Social commentators such as the late Margaret Mead (1970) or the noted sociologist James S. Coleman (1970, 1973) stress the emergence of strong adolescent subcultures and the increased separation between parents and their adolescent children. The emergence of these distinct subcultures has been attributed to structural changes in social organization: the fact that adolescents spend most of their lives segregated in schools with peers of their own age; the lengthening of schooling; and the reduced responsibilities for participation in the labor force. Insulation from parents and other adults is assumed to result in the elimination of parental ability to influence their adolescent children.

Preparation of this paper was partially supported by research grants DA 0064 and DA 01097 and Research Scientist Award DA 00081 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The assistance of Mark Davies and Victoria Raveis is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Physicians and Surgeons, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, 722 West 168th Street, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    D. B. Kandel

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  1. D. B. Kandel
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  1. Department of Psychology, Technical University of Berlin, Dovestrasse 1-5, D-1000, Berlin 10, West Germany

    Rainer K. Silbereisen  & Klaus Eyferth  & 

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Bonn, An der Schlosskirche 1, D-5300, Bonn, Germany

    Georg Rudinger

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© 1986 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Kandel, D.B. (1986). Processes of Peer Influences in Adolescence. In: Silbereisen, R.K., Eyferth, K., Rudinger, G. (eds) Development as Action in Context. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-02475-1_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-02475-1_11

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