A Theoretical Approach to Peer Influence in Adolescent Socialization

This paper examines the contribution of the adolescent peer group to political socialization, as measured by a survey of high school seniors, their parents, and their peers. A number of expectations emerge from Festinger's theory of group influence regarding the strength of the association between a respondent's attitudes and those of his peers. Three political and three racial attitudes are investigated. The results show that peer influence is generally weak. Influence is increased when an attitude has high visibility, when the peers are politically involved, when the peers' attitudes are homogeneous, and when respondent political involvement is either high or low.