Teens use peers as gauge in search for autonomy, and consistently assume others have more freedoms than they do
Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - 15:31
in Psychology & Sociology
Two new studies find that teens' perceptions of peer freedom predicted their own desired levels of autonomy, and that teens consistently overestimated the actual levels of their peers' autonomy, assuming that others had more freedoms than they did. The first study looked at 500 youths in 6th through 9th grades and in 12th grade; the second followed up on the 6th and 7th graders a year later, when they were in 7th and 8th grades.