attitudes, according the social impact theory. “Parents and family may be more influential when children are younger and friendships are based on activities rather than on intimacy, but as children begin adolescence, older siblings and teenagers [peers] may become the primary objects of respect and, thus, more influential” (Harton and Lantan, 1997, p. 198). To further examine the notion that attitude changes over the adolescent years, a study completed by Morgan and Grube (1989) was conducted. This study examined three thousand students ranging in age from 13-17 years old. This study examined three key social areas - normative factors, beliefs about consequences, and social bonding. First, normative factors are subdivided into perceived approval and behavioral norms. Perceived approval consists of beliefs about the approval or disapproval of others for a particular behavior, while behavioral norms consist of beliefs about the extent to which significant others engage in the behavior themselves.This study utilized a survey by way of questionnaires on two separate occasions. The questionnaires asked about a range of variables relating to cigarette smoking, particularly frequency of smoking behavior during the previous month, normative beliefs, beliefs about consequences, social bonding, and background characteristics. The questions were set up similar to the previous studies in that the answers could range from very good to very bad. Once completed, the questionnaires were matched across phases and the data was analyzed. The results showed a curvilinear relationship from age 13 to 17. Further data analysis found that peer smoking was far more significant in influence than peer approvals; 0.613 and 0.294 respectively (both were curvilinear over age groups). In contrast, parental approval was more influential than parental smoking; 0.349 and 0.083 respectively (both were stable over age groups). Beliefs about...
