OBJECTIVES: The current research examined the impact of peer social norms on the physical risk-taking decisions of elementary-school children. METHOD: Children 6-12 years of age completed a novel video-viewing decision task in which they observed risk and non-risk child behaviors on a playground and, after each behavior, indicated their willingness to model each of the behaviors in their own video, both before and after exposure to peer-communicated social norms (encouragement, discouragement). RESULTS: Exposure to peer social norms resulted in significant changes in risk taking, with changes predicted from ratings of perceived social norms and appraisals of injury vulnerability and severity. CONCLUSION: Exposure to peer social norms can provide another means by which injury prevention programs can aim to reduce injury-risk behaviors among school-age children.
OBJECTIVES: The current research examined the impact of peer social norms on the physical risk-taking decisions of elementary-school children. METHOD:Children 6-12 years of age completed a novel video-viewing decision task in which they observed risk and non-risk child behaviors on a playground and, after each behavior, indicated their willingness to model each of the behaviors in their own video, both before and after exposure to peer-communicated social norms (encouragement, discouragement). RESULTS: Exposure to peer social norms resulted in significant changes in risk taking, with changes predicted from ratings of perceived social norms and appraisals of injury vulnerability and severity. CONCLUSION: Exposure to peer social norms can provide another means by which injury prevention programs can aim to reduce injury-risk behaviors among school-age children.
Entities:
Keywords:
children; injury; peers; risk taking; social norms
Authors: Avani C Modi; Anup D Patel; Ana M Gutierrez-Colina; Sara E Wetter; Leah M Heckaman; Andrea Debs; Constance A Mara; Evelynne Wentzel; Matthew Schmidt; Jack Stevens Journal: Epilepsy Behav Date: 2020-12-09 Impact factor: 2.937