Characteristics of Group Relationships that Predict Compliance with Group Expectations for Health and Social Behaviors

The goal of this study was to examine characteristics of an individual’s relationship with a group that may relate to whether or not the individual behaves in accordance with the group’s expectations for his or her behavior. We compared these group relationship characteristics to the construct of motivation to comply which has been hypothesized to function in this moderating role. Questionnaires were administered to 170 college students assessing their perceptions of the expectations of their parents and their college friends for their behavior, the nature of their relationship with each of these groups, and their intentions to perform and past performance of the four health behaviors (exercising, drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, going to a tanning bed) and four social behaviors (studying, going to a party, volunteering for community service, and going to a religious service). Results showed that motivation to comply did not consistently moderate the relationships between perceived expectations and behavior, whereas many group relationship variables did. Additionally, concern with maintaining the approval of the group and avoiding the rejection of the group tended to predict adherence to perceived group expectations in most situations. These data provide initial clues as to the types of group relationships that relate to increased adherence to group social norms, though a follow-up study with a larger sample size would further strengthen these results.

Grantor dc:publisher

Wake Forest University

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Stark, Shannon

• Social Psychology

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/14927

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/14927