Adolescents prefer more immediate rewards when in the presence of their peers
Abstract
Adolescents take more risks in the presence of their peers, but the mechanism through which peer presence affects risky decision‐making is unknown. We propose that the presence of peers increases the salience of the immediate rewards of a risky choice. The current study examined the effect of peer presence on reward sensitivity in a sample of 100 late adolescents ages 18 through 20 (M=18.5) using a delay discounting task, which assesses an individual's preference for immediate versus delayed rewards. Participants were randomly assigned to complete the task alone or with 2 same‐age, same‐sex peers observing. Consistent with our prediction, adolescents demonstrated a greater preference for immediate rewards when with their peers than when alone. Heightened risk taking by adolescents in the company of their friends may be due in part to the effect that being with one's peers has on reward sensitivity.
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In the presence of peers, adolescents evince a stronger preference for immediate (as opposed to delayed) rewards on a Delay Discounting task that does not involve risk taking.
“Consistent with this claim, we have shown that, in the presence of peers, adolescents evince a stronger preference for immediate (as opposed to delayed) rewards on a Delay Discounting task that does not involve risk taking (O’Brien et al., 2011, Weigard et al., 2014).”
From The dual systems model: Review, reappraisal, and reaffirmation (2016) · cites this paper as O’Brien et al., 2011
Peers may serve as a social cue that primes reward sensitivity and may place increased value on riskier short-term decisions rather than the safer long-term benefits of decisions.
“Peers may serve as a social cue that primes reward sensitivity and may place increased value on riskier short-term decisions rather than the safer long-term benefits of decisions (O'Brien et al., 2011).”
From Buffering social influence: neural correlates of response inhibition predict driving safety in the presence of a peer (2015) · cites this paper as O'Brien et al., 2011
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- Authors
- O'Brien, L., Albert, D., Chein, J., & Steinberg, L.
- Affiliations
- Temple University (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Research on Adolescence
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2011-03-29
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 747-753
- ISSN
- 1050-8392 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7795
- OpenAlex
- W1603241266
- Cited by
- 196
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 5.28
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Research on Adolescence (publishedVersion)
- Scholarship, Research, and Creative Work at Bryn Mawr College (Bryn Mawr College) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- peer presence, delay discounting, reward sensitivity, risky decision making, adolescents, immediate rewards, risk-taking, social influence
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