FRIENDS INFLUENCE ON ADOLESCENTS ACADEMIC-ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION - AN EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY

To examine the influence of friends on adolescents' motivation to achieve in school, each of 118 eighth graders was paired with a close friend. The pairs of friends were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control condition. In the experimental condition, the friends discussed dilemmas that required them to decide between 2 actions reflecting different levels of achievement motivation. In the control condition, friends discussed topics unrelated to school. Before and after the discussions, all adolescents made decisions on the dilemmas independently. The 1st hypothesis was that discussions of the dilemmas would lead to an increase in the similarity of friends' decisions. The 2nd hypothesis was that the discussions would lead to shifts toward more extreme decisions. The results supported the 1st hypothesis but not the 2nd. More harmonious discussions involving greater information exchange led to greater changes in decisions.