Learning Disabled Students' Conformity Responses to Prosocial and Antisocial Situations

Junior-high school aged learning disabled and nondisabled students rated their willingness to conform to peer pressure to engage in antisocial and prosocial actions. In addition, students indicated how many friends they had, how supportive they perceived their peers and parents to be, and how often they participated in antisocial actions with friends. The results indicated that while learning disabled and nondisabled children did not differ in their estimates of likely conformity to engaging in prosocial behaviors, the learning disabled subjects rated themselves more likely to engage in antisocial actions with friends. While learning disabled children estimated having somewhat fewer friends than nondisabled students, the groups did not differ in their perceptions of peer and parent supportiveness. Results are discussed in terms of factors which may affect learning disabled adolescents' social behaviors.