Attitudinal and social factors in adolescent smoking: In search of peer group influence.

Administered a questionnaire to 2 samples of British 15-yr-old secondary school students: 178 Ss in an all-male school and 41 females and 59 males in a coeducational school. The measure investigated Ss' smoking attitudes and behavior and the effects of peer pressure on both. Results show that smokers (anyone who had smoked at all within the previous week) held less negative attitudes about smoking, were more likely to have a father who smoked, and anticipated less parental disapproval of their smoking. When asked to name their 5 best friends among their classmates, smokers were more likely to name other smokers than were nonsmokers. On the basis of these results, it is argued that the notion of "peer group influence" should be reconceptualized in terms of intergroup processes and social identity concerns within the peer group.