DEVELOPMENTAL-CHANGES IN CONFORMITY TO PEERS AND PARENTS

Investigated developmental changes in conformity to parents and peers and relations between parent and peer conformity. In Study 1, 251 children in the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 11th, or 12th grade responded to hypothetical situations in which peers urged the child to perform either antisocial, prosocial, or neutral behaviors. For all types of behavior, the age trends for conformity were curvilinear, and peer conformity peaked in the 6th or 9th grade. In Study 2, 273 children in the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 11th, or 12th grades responded to situations testing conformity to peers on antisocial and prosocial behavior and conformity to parents on prosocial and neutral behavior. For antisocial behavior, a peak in peer conformity was found at the 9th grade. Significant age changes were not found for prosocial behavior. Conformity to parents on both types of behavior decreased steadily with age. With some but not all measures, conformity to parents and conformity to peers were negatively correlated. In addition, the relations between parents and peer conformity changed with age. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1979 American Psychological Association.