Influence of 8th Grade Girls within a Peer Group

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In this study, I worked with Catherine Avendano. We were interested in the interactions within a peer group as expressed during social situations, such as the school lunch hour. Students often maintain several personas and express them within or across different contexts; we felt that the social hour might reveal findings that one would not typically see during classes. Potential findings included group leadership, hot topics in popular culture, verbal communication amongst peers, locations for congregating, and group formation. After initial observations and interviews with one middle school female peer group, we found the notion of influence to be the most salient element within this group of girls and decided to pursue a deeper understanding of what factors influenced these girls' actions/decisions.
To collect data, we conducted one 50 minute observation of the identified peer group and 2 hour-long interviews with one girl from within the group, Jenny (pseudonym). We conducted the observation during the school lunch hour.
After collecting data and conducting initial analysis, we saw that influence, as defined above, had a strong presence. Influence was especially notable in Jenny's accounts of group activities, popular culture, group mentality, and parental relations. Through grounded theory, we found that influences come from four main areas: 1) parents, 2) friends, 3) media and 4) self (See Figure 1 for definitions).
In Jenny's account of her own experience and that of her peer group, the influence of media seemed dependent on seasonal trends, whereas friends and parents seemed to recur more as consistent actors in her daily life. This was evidenced by the relative frequency in which she discussed them during the interview.
Although not a major theme in this study, another notable element was the concept of popularity. Interestingly and unwittingly, we selected a subject group based on their popularity, and this idea also emerged as a prominent outcome of our research. When we looked at popularity, we found that three main factors were identified as its characteristics: 1) being male, 2) being older, and 3) being famous. We report popularity as a minor theme because connections between popularity and key influencers lacked substantial evidence and could not be tied together based upon our initial research. However, we feel that it is potentially an important concept in understanding the dynamics of influence within this particular group of girls.