The Homophily Of Peer Group's Prosocial Behavior In Adolescence And Its Formation

Adolescents are currently at a pivotal stage of the internalization and social development of moral values.The development of prosocial behavior has always been placed in the prominent position of social content of adolescents by not just society,but also schools and families.At this stage,their interactions with peers are more and more frequent.In the book Friendship,Grayling wrote: "Friendship goes beyond some of the original utilitarian reasons and connects individuals closely." Such a peer relationship connects adolescent individuals to countless numbers of peer groups.Previous researches found that adolescent peer groups are more consistent in a number of behaviors and characteristics,so is there a homophily in the prosocial behavior of adolescent peer group? If so,does the reason for homophily stem from peer selection or peer influence?On the basis of previous studies,the current reaearch measured prosocial behaviors among groups and individuals of adolescence through combining cross sectional and longitudinal research design,during which measuremental instruments and analysis methodologies were improved.This study counts on the following contents: In Study 1,722 adolescents were recruited,and the exponential random graph model was employed in a bid to analyze whether there was the homophily of prosocial behavior in adolescent peer groups.In Study 2,594 adolescents were tracked and measured at three repeated assessment waves within the period of one year;Also,the causes of homophily of prosocial behavior variables in adolescent peer groups were figured out through the use of stochastic actor-based modeling of social networks.The results of the current research are as following:(1)Homophily of gander and prosocial behaviors exist among adolescent peer groups.(2)In the aspect of peer selection,adolescents are inclined to choosing peers in accordance by gender or other characteristics instead of the homophily of prosocial behaviors as the key reason leading to peer selection.The reason of the homophily of prosocial behaviors in adolescent peer groups does not stem from peer selection.(3)In terms of peer influence,the current research found the fact that the prosociality of adolescents is influenced by peer groups,which leads to the fact that members of same peer group tend to behave consistently in the aspect of prosocial behaviors.The reason of the homophily of the prosocial behaviors of adolescent peer groups originates from the influence of peers.