Adolescents are often susceptible to the opinions of peers,such as their friends, activity partners and co-workers. In twostudies, we test an integrative model of adolescent susceptibilityto peer influence that includes parenting style as driver, theadolescent self-concept as mediator, and the cultural context asmoderator of the level of susceptibility. The overarching findingin our studies is that responsive parenting reduces susceptibilityby influencing the adolescent self-concept, while psychologicallycontrolling parenting increases susceptibility without influencingthe adolescent self-concept. We also show that culture can modifythese effects of parenting such that, within collectivist easterncultures, psychological control influences susceptibility to peerinfluence through changes in adolescents? self-concept.
Zhiyong Yang (BSc, MSc, MBA, and Ph.D.) received his doctoraldegree in Marketing from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada in2007. His current research interests include family consumptionbehavior, online information processing, and cross-culturalstudies.
