Running Head: Psychology 1

Psychology

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Psychology 2

Introduction

Pupils at seventh grade are most likely to be between eleven years and thirteen years old.

These ages mark the onset of adolescence among males, females enter adolescence much

earlier at around age nine. The two sexes are thus bound to behave differently in aspects of

life like adherence to rules. The level of curiosity and tendency to act like adults differ

sharply between the sexes. While girls tend to act responsible, the boys tend to be more

curious, adventurous and sometimes naughty[CITATION Eri00 \p 415 \l 1033 ]. They will

always experiment. This may be attributed to the fact that the girls have already spent some

years in adolescence and are at an advanced stage compared to their boys’ counterparts or can

be seen from the point of view suggested by prof. Nirah Shah, MD, PhD. Prof. Nirah Shah

suggest psychoanatomical differences between the brains of males and females that results to

the brains of males being more active thus the increased curiosity in boys. Studies have also

shown that boys are most likely to be affected by peer influence compared to girls. These

three considerations point to more chance that the boys will act against the instructions given.

While the girls will tend to follow the instructions pasted on the boxes, the boys will be

curious to know why the boxes ought not be opened and will most likely influence each other

to proceed to open them to know what will happen. Studying these differences in behavior of

males and females is of great essence in understanding the general behavior of the two

genders and in formulating strategies of how to treat the two genders differently.

Literature review

Research suggest that the trend in susceptibility to peer pressure to engage in antisocial

behavior assumes a model of an inverted U increasing during the early stages of adolescence

and peaking at around age 14 then declining beyond age 14[CITATION Lau09 \p 1531 \l

1033 ]. Adolescents tend to engage in many risky behaviors in the company of their
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peers[CITATION Sim05 \p 973 \l 1033 ]. During early stages of adolescence, individuals

group themselves mostly according to what interests them in life. There’s increased pressure

to fit into the values, interests, trends and styles of the group in show of solidarity making

peer influence very intense. Adolescents will therefore tend to alter their behavior to fit into

these peer groups. Most studies on peer influence adopt a model where the adolescents are

presented with dilemmas in which a choice is to be made between two related courses of

action one that is in line with peer pressure to engage in certain behavior and the other that

non-conforming. The adolescents are then either put to test or asked how they would

behave[CITATION Lau09 \p 1537 \l 1033 ]. In this research the adolescents have a choice

between opening the boxes and following the printed instruction. Peer influence among

adolescents is majorly negative. Increased susceptibility to peer influence has been

determined to be most consistent when considering antisocial behavior and is especially

correct when considering behavior of boys[CITATION Eri00 \p 398 \l 1033 ]. The action that

conforms to peer influence would be opening the box. The boys are therefore more likely to

open the boxes as compared to the girls. This research adopts a test where the adolescents are

unaware of the trap. In this state they are likely to behave honestly. However, this may cause

increase in curiosity thus increasing bias in the results obtained.

Conclusion

Whereas it is true that there is a very large array of aspects that influence behavior among

young adolescents including cultural background and socioeconomic status, age and gender

prove of great essence. How the adolescents of various age brackets behave is different.

Moreover, how adolescent boys and girls in same age bracket behave is different. Many

researches have been conducted to give more information regarding these differences and the

causes of the differences. This research strengthens the finding by earlier researches done and

cited in this paper as far as the difference in general behavior of boys and girls between ages
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eleven and thirteen is concerned. It supports the finding that boys aged between eleven and

thirteen are more likely to defy instructions as opposed to girls.

References.

Erick, K., Crosnoe, R., & Dornbursch, S. (2000). A Social Process Model of Adolescent

Deviance: Combining Social Control and Differential Association Perspectives.

Journal for Youth and Adolescence., 395-425.

Laurence, S., & Kathryn, M. C. (2009, November 19). Age Difference in Resistance to Peer

Influence. Developmental Psychology., pp. 1531-1543.

Simons-Morton, B., Lerner, N., & Singer, J. (2005). The Observed Effects of Teenage

Passengers on Risky Driving Behavior of Teenage Drivers. Accident Analysis and

Prevention. PubMed.