The nature of the specific analogue measure used also suggests that for some adolescents, simply hearing about a hypothetical peer's deviant behavior was associated with providing less competent responses to hypothetical problems, which in turn predicted greater apparent peer influence. This raises the possibility that even very common and relatively non-coercive peer processes (e.g., an adolescent simply being exposed to deviant peer behavior and then choosing to behave in more deviant fashion) may potentially account for a significant degree of actual peer influence. Prior research has identified general processes by which individuals at-risk for deviant behavior may entrain each other in such behavior (Dishion et al., 2001; Dishion et al., 1996; Poulin, Dishion, & Haas, 1999); analogue findings from this study suggest that such entrainment may in some cases require little more than simple exposure to deviant behavior.
