BACKGROUND Humans are by nature a social species, with much of human experience spent in social interaction. Unsurprisingly, social functioning is crucial to well-being and quality of life across the lifespan. While early intervention for social problems appears promising, our ability to identify the specific impairments underlying their social problems (eg, social communication) is restricted ...

adolescence is an important stage of human life span, which crucial developmental processes occur. since peers play a critical role in the psychosocial development of most adolescents, peer education is currently considered as a health promotion strategy in adolescents. peer education is defined as a system of delivering knowledge that improves social learning and provides psychosocial support....

Despite the ubiquitous reference to the concept of social norms in the social sciences, there is no consensus about the power of social norms to direct human action. For some, norms have a central and regular influence on human behavior, while for others, the concept is too vague, and the evidence we have about norm compliance is too contradictory to support the claim that they appreciably affe...

Scientists pursue collective knowledge, but they also seek personal recognition from their peers. When scientists decide whether or not to work on a big new problem, they weigh the potential rewards of a major discovery against the costs of setting aside other projects. These selfinterested decisions may distribute researchers across problems in an efficient manner, but efficiency is not guaran...

We study how compliance with norms of pro-social behavior is influenced by peers' in a dynamic and non-strategic experimental setting. show that social proximity among peers crucial determinant the effect. Without proximity, norm erodes swiftly because participants only conform to observed violations while ignoring compliance. With both types behaviors, thus halting erosion Our findings stress ...

The use of social sanctions against behaviour which contradicts a set of informal rules is often an important element in the functioning of informal institutions in traditional societies. In the social sciences, sanctioning behaviour has often been explained in terms of the internalisation of norms that prescribe the sanctions (e.g. Parsons 1951) or the threat of new sanctions against those who...

ABSTRACT The generalised AIDS epidemic in Malawi presents many challenges. As communication and advice from parents, peers, and partners are important factors in influencing sexual behaviour, understanding communication may provide insights into behaviour change programming. This mixed-method study used a household survey (n=1812) and 15 focus group discussions from the southern districts of Ma...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine whether deficits in executive functioning (EF) in children with cochlear implants (CIs) emerge as early as the preschool years. METHOD Two groups of children ages 3 to 6 years participated in this cross-sectional study: 24 preschoolers who had CIs prior to 36 months of age and 21 preschoolers with normal hearing (NH). All were tested on norme...

Little is known about the influences of peers on the sexual activity of adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. Better understanding of these issues could lead to more effective sexual and reproductive health interventions. Using two waves of survey data from 1,275 adolescents in two southeastern Ghanaian towns, we examine age, sex, and community differences in peer group characteristics. We also ex...