Abstract:

In a continuous process of socialization, one of the aims of educating adolescents is to lead and understand the norms of the society and to be identified with them. This should be reflected in the child's conforming behaviour towards the norms of the society and at the same time the elimination of the risk behaviour. The key period of the individual's formation can be perceived during the period of early adolescence, in which the personality of the child with respect to authorities and self-conception is fundamentally defended and continuously transformed into adolescence and the period of individual identity formation. In this period there is also a significant milestone in the socialization of the individuals, namely the transfer of the significant degree of co-responsibility for their behaviour and the fulfilment of social roles in the context of an emerging criminal responsibility.

The main aim of the research is to discover relevant findings concerning the tendencies of emerging adolescents to general and peer conformity, peer pressure and popularity among the other peers. We consider these findings to be an important starting point for revealing the relationship between conformity and risk behaviour among young adolescents. Although conformity and risk behaviours interact and often act together as a complex psychosocial phenomenon, our approach will treat peer conformity as an antecedent variable that not only initiates but also strengthens the socially undesirable, risk behaviour of the adolescents. The formulation of this goal is based on our belief that the research will contribute to uncovering the key factors involved in pupil risk behaviour. The research sample consisted of 218 pupils from primary schools in the Olomouc region in the Czech Republic aged 11-13 years (average age 11.79, SD 0.71). To determine the planned empirical data the following research methods were used: for the research of peer pressure, peer conformity, peer popularity and general conformity we selected the questionnaire developed in 2000 by the authors Darcy Santor, Deanna Messervey and Vivek Kusumakar and the questionnaire mapping the incidence of risk behaviour among adolescents (VRCHA). The results suggest that there is a significant positive correlation between age and peer pressure, popularity and peer conformity. The peer pressure subscale was negatively correlated with the general conformity as well as the negative relation between the peer conformity and general conformity was detected. It can be stated that those adolescents who have a strong tendency to conform with the authorities do not get influenced by the peer pressure and do not conform with the peers. However, conformity to authority can be seen as a protective factor against the risk behaviour.

Keywords:

Conformity, peer pressure, general confomity, popularity, risk behaviour.