SUSCEPTIBILITY TO PEER PRESSURE AND SELF-REPORTED BEHAVIORS AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Questionnaires were administered to 250 Chinese adolescents in Singapore, which measured their susceptibility to peer pressure (willingness to conform to peer-directed behaviors, despite disinclination) in antisocial and neutral behaviors and self-reported frequency of the corresponding behaviors were collected from. Susceptibility by age, gender and domain was examined. The association between susceptibility and self-reported behaviors was also explored. Results indicated that age changes in antisocial susceptibility increased as a function of age. While susceptibility to neutral peer pressure as a whole did not vary across age, susceptibility to peer pressure in school involvement displayed an inverted U-shaped pattern, peaking at age 16. Gender and domain effects were found. Males were higher in susceptibility than females in both domains of behaviors. In general, antisocial susceptibility was higher than neutral susceptibility. Susceptibility significantly predicted self-reported behaviors in the two domains, but antisocial susceptibility was a better predictor than neutral susceptibility. Gender moderated the association between susceptibility and self-reported behaviors in the neutral domain, but not in the antisocial domain. Susceptibility was thus established as a useful and valid construct in Singapore.