The DOI matches its Crossref record; 44 of the 44 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Avoiding Social Risk in Adolescence
Open accessAbstract
Adolescence is a period of life often characterized by behaviors that, prima facie, are irrational, such as seemingly excessive risk taking and impulsivity. However, these behaviors can be interpreted as adaptive and rational if one considers that a key developmental goal of this period of life is to mature into an independent adult in the context of a social world that is unstable and changing. It is proposed that for adolescents, the social risk of being rejected by peers outweighs other potentially negative outcomes of decisions, such as threats to one’s health or the prospect of getting caught. Furthermore, peer influence in adolescence can lead to prosocial as well as antisocial behaviors. Neurocognitive mechanisms of peer influence include the social reward of being accepted by one’s peer group, arousal, and increased mentalizing, which is associated with development of the social brain network. The findings from cognitive neuroscience and developmental psychology studies fit with recent public health evidence that the opinions of peers are particularly important to adolescents in areas such as school antibullying and antismoking campaigns.
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“However, the lack of empirical evidence to support policy and practice development in this area has been consistently voiced by clinicians and researchers.”
From Social media use and adolescent sleep patterns: cross-sectional findings from the UK millennium cohort study (2019) · cites this paper as [2]
In the citing paper
“Restricting adolescent social media use is likely to be especially challenging, as this is a developmental period of increasing autonomy during which peer interactions, belonging and acceptance are highly valued.2”
From Social media use and adolescent sleep patterns: cross-sectional findings from the UK millennium cohort study (2019) · cites this paper as [2]
In the citing paper
“The heightened susceptibility to social influence in adolescence, combined with increased concern about social rejection, increases the likelihood that adolescents will conform to their peers in order to gain social acceptance and avoid the social risk of being excluded by their peer group. 141-143”
From The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health (2024) · cites this paper as [142]
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- Shakespeare W., 1969, The winter’s tale
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Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Blakemore, S.-J.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne
- Venue
- Current Directions in Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2018-02-28
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 116-122
- ISSN
- 0963-7214 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-8721
- OpenAlex
- W2789863226
- Cited by
- 304
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 46 · 2025: 43 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 37 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 55 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 6
- FWCI
- 17.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- Current Directions in Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- Open Science Framework
- Funders
- Royal Society
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Adolescent Health and Behaviors
- Keywords
- adolescent risk-taking, peer rejection, peer influence, social risk, prosocial behavior, antisocial behavior, social reward, mentalization, social brain network, adolescent development, bullying prevention, anti-smoking campaigns, impulsivity
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