The situation makes them behave more responsibly, says adolescent psychology expert Lawrence Steinberg. But the presence of peers provokes risky actions.
It is well known that adolescents are much more prone to risky behavior than adults, especially in the company of peers. A new study led by the world’s foremost adolescent psychologist Laurence Steinberg of Temple University in Philadelphia shows that this propensity decreases when there is someone slightly older than the teenager.
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- Do you like to take risks?
“Our main conclusion is that in such a situation young men become more responsible in making decisions,” explains the psychologist. The experiment, which was carried out by Steinberg and his co-authors Karol Silva (Karol Silva) and Jason Chein (Jason Chein), was funded by the US army. Most soldiers fall into the age group of a little under or a little over 20 years old. Will the presence of adult soldiers, 25 to 30 years old, have a positive effect on them? This question was asked by the researchers.
Boys from 18 to 20 years old were randomly selected for the experiment. Some participated in the experiment alone, others in a group. Moreover, the group could consist of either three peers or two young men and one adult. At the same time, the teenagers did not know that their adult partners were graduate students who were part of the research team.
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At the beginning, each participant was asked to introduce himself to others, give his name and indicate which course he was studying. In this way, everyone got an idea of each other’s age.
During the experiment, the participant was asked to drive a car in a computer driving simulator, while the rest watched him. The task was to drive as fast as possible along the virtual track. At each intersection, the “driver” had to decide whether to stop at a yellow light, wasting time, or keep driving but risk crashing into another car, which would waste even more time. For a very fast passage of the route, the participant was given a cash reward. Observers also received bonuses according to the success of the “driver”.
The participant’s propensity to take risks was assessed depending on the number of intersections at which they overshot the yellow light. The participant’s propensity to receive a small reward immediately, or to be patient and receive a larger reward later, was also taken into account.
It turned out that drivers who were observed only by their peers took significantly more risks and were more interested in immediate rewards than those who completed the task alone or in a group with an older participant. Moreover, in the last two cases, the results were no different.
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In other words, if the teenagers provoked the participant into more risky actions, then the mere presence of an adult mitigated this effect. However, the authors note, it is still difficult to say which factor influenced the behavior of young men: the very consciousness that someone older in age is nearby, or his “adult” behavior. It also remains to be seen whether this pattern holds for adolescent girls and for mixed groups of girls and boys.
Although the original goal of the study was to improve the performance of military platoons, the authors believe that these results can be applied more widely, for example, in recruiting for shops and restaurants where many young people work.
“There is no doubt that very young employees bring a lot to work groups, including spontaneity, enthusiasm and creativity. It is important for those who lead them to find a way to channel this energy into a peaceful direction, minimizing the propensity of adolescents to take unnecessary risks, ”concludes Lawrence Steinberg.
See more at Association for Psychological Science.