Preference uncertainty accounts for developmental effects on susceptibility to peer influence in adolescence

Andrea M. F. Reiter (), Michael Moutoussis, Lucy Vanes, Rogier Kievit, Edward T. Bullmore, Ian M. Goodyer, Peter Fonagy, Peter B. Jones and Raymond J. Dolan
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Andrea M. F. Reiter: University College London
Michael Moutoussis: University College London
Lucy Vanes: University College London
Rogier Kievit: University College London
Edward T. Bullmore: University of Cambridge Clinical School
Ian M. Goodyer: University of Cambridge Clinical School
Peter Fonagy: University College London
Peter B. Jones: University of Cambridge Clinical School
Raymond J. Dolan: University College London

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Adolescents are prone to social influence from peers, with implications for development, both adaptive and maladaptive. Here, using a computer-based paradigm, we replicate a cross-sectional effect of more susceptibility to peer influence in a large dataset of adolescents 14 to 24 years old. Crucially, we extend this finding by adopting a longitudinal perspective, showing that a within-person susceptibility to social influence decreases over a 1.5 year follow-up time period. Exploiting this longitudinal design, we show that susceptibility to social influences at baseline predicts an improvement in peer relations over the follow-up period. Using a Bayesian computational model, we demonstrate that in younger adolescents a greater tendency to adopt others’ preferences arises out of a higher uncertainty about their own preferences in the paradigmatic case of delay discounting (a phenomenon called ‘preference uncertainty’). This preference uncertainty decreases over time and, in turn, leads to a reduced susceptibility of one’s own behaviour to an influence from others. Neuro-developmentally, we show that a measure of myelination within medial prefrontal cortex, estimated at baseline, predicts a developmental decrease in preference uncertainty at follow-up. Thus, using computational and neural evidence, we reveal adaptive mechanisms underpinning susceptibility to social influence during adolescence.

Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-23671-2

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23671-2

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