A meta-analysis of susceptibility to peer influence effects in adolescence

Abstract

Decades of research have extensively explored how and why adolescents alter their behaviors to align with their peers. This literature review and meta-analysis aimed to (1) assess the degree to which adolescents are influenced by their peers and (2) explore potential moderators of susceptibility to peer influence. Moderators considered included the method of peer influence (feedback, norms, presence), the type of behavior (risk-taking, prosocial, antisocial), adolescent-specific characteristics (age, gender), peer-related factors (familiarity and number of peers), and a study-specific element (proximity of peers). To ensure transparency and rigor, we pre-registered our study on the Open Science Framework (OSF). Our meta-analysis included experimental studies with quantitative behavioral outcomes, encompassing 79 independent reports and over 9,500 participants. A significant overall effect of peer influence emerged (g = 0.47) with notable heterogeneity (I2 = 85%, τ² = 0.20), prompting further investigation of moderators. Backward stepwise regression with robust variance estimation revealed that peer norms emerged as a significant moderator (β = 0.36, p < .05), suggesting that adolescents are more likely to engage in a behavior after observing their peers exhibit it than when they are simply in their peers’ presence or after they receive their peers’ feedback. This study contributes to our understanding of how different methods of peer influence can heighten adolescents' susceptibility to conforming to their peers across a range of behaviors.