Adolescents' peer orientation: changes in the support system during the past three decades

Identical questionnaires were administered to samples of high school students (N = 570) in 1963, 1976, and 1982. The purpose was to determine to what extent they relied on their peers on a number of important issues. The findings revealed no monolithic orientation, but showed that the nature of the issue determines which reference group is activated: peers or parents. While educational, career, and financial concerns are more parent oriented, almost all social activities are peer oriented. However, the strength of the orientation has been fluctuating over the past decades: the teenagers showed lowest peer orientation in 1963, highest in 1976, and intermediate in 1982.