Investigating the Influence of Peer Pressure on Risky Decision-Making among Young Adults: The Mediating Role of Impulsivity

Abstract

Living in a world where young adults have to spend time in testing and often confusing social dynamics can create within the peer group an ability to influence all behavior learned, or even a life altering decision. The research examines the influence of peer pressure on risky decision-making and investigates impulsivity as the mediating variable. The present study tries to see the inclination towards influences of peers can lead to high levels of impulsiveness which ultimately result to high chances of indulging in high-risk activities. In this study about 220 young adults were used and data was collected using the standardized measures of peer pressure, impulsivity and risky decision making. The data was analyzed using the SPSS and Hayes Process macro, the factors that predict risky decision were found to be peer pressure, which predicted risky decision significantly whether directly or through impulsivity, which was partially mediated. This response has the psychology of how social contexts can affect individual decision-making practice, and this conclusion is important in the planning of interventions with individual well-being about inhibitory control as a beneficial variable. The research is not only improving the youth actions under the influence of others, but also focus the need to uphold self-control in an attempt to avoid temptation that may be caused due to peer influence