It Takes a Village—To Create Binge Drinkers

By Sally Raskoff

How much do you take for granted as common sense? Are there some things out there in the world that you know are true not because they have been studied scientifically but because something just seems logical and everyone knows it’s true?

Sociology teaches us to be cautious about such “truisms.” Some of the time, those common sense notions are wrong! But we won’t know unless someone studies them, and then someone else replicates that study, and someone else tests it yet again, and so on. We do this until we’re pretty clear that most of the time, we know what’s going on. And then, yes, we need to do another study to see if what we knew is still accurate.

Take teenagers and dating. Don’t we all just know that who kids hang out with will dictate their behavior? So if your daughter dates the guy down the street whom you’ve seen with many other girls at the mall, won’t you worry more than if she dated the straight A student who is president of the student government? If your son joins the football team, will you be concerned about what girls he’ll meet at the parties he’ll attend after the game?

Parents have long known about the effect of peers on their children; although how much of this is untested "common sense" and how much is based on observable facts? Many teenagers would admit that they are often interested in things that their friends are interested in, but paradoxically, they might at the same time disagree with their parents' assumptions that those friends shape their choices and behavior.

So what do we know about "common sense" notions about peer influence? Stanley Milgram’s famous study of conformity and many other studies document the impact of peer influence. This is one of those behavioral issues that is a very popular topic in much sociology and psychology research.

However, dating and drinking behaviors of teenagers may not be due solely to either individual choice or peer influences. The strength of weak ties was recently investigated in a fascinating study on teenagers and drinking behaviors. The researchers, Derek Kreager and Dana Haynie, analyzed longitudinal data from a national study and found some very interesting patterns.

Basically, they found that drinking behaviors were very closely tied, not to the dating partner’s pattern, but to the friends of the dating partners’ patterns. In other words, whether a teen dates a drinker is less important than whether the drinker’s friends drink; if the friends of the boyfriend or girlfriend drink, the teen will also be more likely to drink.

The dating partners one chooses create a bridge between social groups. That bridge makes it possible for people in previously unconnected networks to influence each other.

This does have a certain logic if you think about it. The person who is dating a drinker may drink more, not because the partner drinks, but because the partner’s friends all drink. The person wants the new partner to like him or her, so he or she adapts behaviors that the new partner’s established friends already exhibit. So, rather than risk standing out as an outsider, the teen adapts to fit in to the new social group. Even if a teen’s new partner doesn’t drink, if his or her friends drink, that teen may likely begin drinking.

One wonders if these patterns are unique to adolescence or might also apply to adult behavior. While we like to believe (once we are adults) that adults think differently than teens do, we need to seek out the research on that topic to know whether that assumption is true.

What seems like common sense notions may be partially or wholly true – or may not true at all! Without the research to delve into the patterns, we won’t know.

Comments

[Brenda Roscow]

This adds a whole level of worry for parents. So, even if you know your teen's immediate friends, it will be the next level of friends that determine their risk for involvement in binge drinking.
Can it be assumed that a similar relationship also holds true for teens using and smoking?

[Family, Marriage and relationships]

great blog..many readers will sure benefit this blog of yours..hope you inspire more.. God bless ;))

[Bruce rose]

I like this post a lot in attending college at the moment and see a lot of teens that drink just because of there friends.

[Nicholas Kirmer]

Common sense I agree with. I really haven't noticed the correlation between friends friends behaviors influencing others. Think for yourself. I did like the article and the insight.

[amy knifer smith]

like the article. I don't think it true. I know that some people a stronger willed than that.