This article analyses the film "Mean girls" (2004) as a window on popular notions of the moral life of American high schools, which straddles Kohlberg's Stage 2 and 3. The film presents loyalty to peer group cliques as a key value, even as it offers an individualist, relativist critique of that loyalty. Gossip is the main transgression in this…

Individual (gender and acculturation), microsystem (social support), exosystem (socioeconomic status), and macrosystem (racism) variables were examined as predictors of career decision-making self-efficacy in a sample of 85 Vietnamese adolescents in the Washington, D.C., area. English language acculturation and peer support accounted for unique…

This study explores an English as a Second Language (ESL) Introduction to Psychology Learning Community (ESL-IPLC) as an approach to retaining ESL students in a community college. Retention is a problem in all higher education settings, but is especially important for community colleges because of their "open door" policy. Community colleges…

The conservation of biodiversity is an important socio-scientific issue that is often regarded as a precondition to sustainable development. The foundation for citizens' understanding of conservation issues can be laid down in formal school education. This research focuses on decision-making discussions about biological conservation issues among…

A composition scholar conducted a study of peer response groups in a freshmen composition course to determine what leads to conflict among students in these groups. In the course of her study, however, she found herself deeply perplexed by conflicting roles she had to play as a participant/observer. The ethnographer as a participant/observer is,…

This paper represents an attempt to assess the merits of the general hypothesis that suggests that the quality of adolescent-adult interaction is an important variable in the explanation of differentials in adolescent peer-group involvement. (Author)

To investigate age, sex, and situational differences in choice of consultant, a total of 192 students--24 male and 24 female students at 8, 11, 14, and 17 years of age were interviewed to obtain responses to three hypothetical problems: impersonal, interpersonal with a peer, and interpersonal with a parent. For each hypothetical problem, subjects…

Several issues related to peer review and improvement of applied social research are discussed. Peer review needs strengthening in at least two ways: (1) use of formal standards and reproducible measures, and (2) peer review of completed research. (RH)

Peer interactions are important in the socialization of aggression, sex-role learning, and the internalization of moral values, and contribute to the development of cognitive and language skills. Evidence is presented to support the contention that peer modeling is among the most powerful social influences to which children are exposed.…

THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT WAS TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE FOLLOWING FOUR FACTORS, SIMULTANEOUSLY AND SEPARATELY, AFFECT THE RATES OF CHEATING AMONG 10TH GRADE STUDENTS--(1) INDIVIDUAL ROLE ADAPTATIONS, (2) PEER GROUP INFLUENCE, (3) SOCIAL CONTEXT, AND (4) FAMILY INFLUENCE. A PARADIGM (MERTON'S) THAT RELATES INDIVIDUAL ANOMIA, SOCIAL…

The research reported in this study explores two problematic avenues of conformity research: (1) the widely assumed generality of diverse measures of group pressure, and (2) the dimensionality of conformity, anticonformity, and independence. These two conformity situations, present and nonpresent norm groups, used two tasks (an objective counting…

Within the framework of individualized instruction, a study explored: 1) the effects on performance when students either know or do not know how much time it has taken others to complete the same task, and 2) the importance of the concept of "peer tutor." Students enrolled in two sections of a class in utilization of educational media participated…

Research into the socializing of women into sports activities revealed that peers were most influential at all life-cycle stages, family was the most influential during childhood, and coaches and teachers during adolescence; in addition, males were the predominant role models during childhood, and females during adolescence and adult life. (MB)

Reviews several theories explaining adolescent drug use to provide background for describing peer cluster theory. Peer clusters dictate the shared beliefs, values, and behaviors that determine where, when, and with whom drugs are used. Peer cluster theory incorporates those psychosocial factors that promote or inoculate against drug use in youth.…