Social Psycholgical Explantions - Addiction

Question 1

Role of the media (brief summary)

Answer 1

P1- social learning theory is easily applied to the formation of addiction in that the observer will replicate addictive behaviour portrayed in films or in the media - the celebrity or actor acts as the role model and through vicarious reinforcement as they are portrayed as popular/respected - those therefore increases the risk of the observer engaging in the behaviour in order to imitate their role models

Question 2

Evaluation point for role of the media - correlation

Answer 2

S- weakness as its often correlational research
E-difficult to establish cause and effect between addiction and role of media
E-could be another third factor e.g friends/family or general social attitudes
C-however one piece of research used experimental method by showing 2 versions of same film one with smoking and one without - those that saw with reported more positively on smoking
W-although there is some evidence which uses the scientific method but more research needs to be conducted

Question 3

Describe explain- peer influence (10)

Answer 3

P1- perceived social norms differ between peer groups as they all have their own set of rules
2 types of social norms:
1- Descriptive: individuals perception of how much others engage in behaviour (everyone is doing this)
2- Injunctive: what an individual perceives as others approval of the behaviour (i should be doing this)
-research shows high number of students believed being intoxicated was only okay in certain circumstances however high proportion also thought that their peers believed it was acceptable = will act in a way they think the group is asking so behaviour is deemed normal

P2-teenage brain differences:
Study conducted by national institute of drug abuse finding teens more likley to act out risky behaviour when they know their friends are watching e.g speeding
-FMRI scans showed increased brain activity in region’s responsible for reward - knowing that friends were watching stimulated the areas of reward

P3-vicarious reinforcement:
Definition = learning a behaviour through the consequences of others
Link = an addict may imitate the behaviour of a peer role model because they see them, being rewarded e.g a wealthy friend always wins when gambling so they also gamble
‘Indirect peer pressue’ - subtle feeling, hard to detect, that you must do it or you’ll be left out e.g drinking

Question 4

Evaluation of peer influence - addiction (10)

Answer 4

Research support:
S- strength as there is research support
E-national institute of drug abuse found that 90% of us smokers started smoking as adolescents- this is attributed to imitating peers
E-suggests that the decision to start smoking is due in part to social learning factors
C-many research is correlational
W- peer influence is crucial in teens

Issues with peer influence and addiction:
S-weakness
E-cannot explain independent addictions such as gambling or shopping
E-some addicts go to extreme lengths to hide addiction from family
W-not all addictions are social as not all people who socialise with addicts become an addict - individual differences play a role

Does not explain the maintenance of addiction:
S-weakness
E-if peer influence was the sole cause we’d expect if they no longer socialised with the group the addictive behaviour would stop
E-most addictions outlasts the group that first influenced them - therefore likley another explanation of maintaining addiction (institute of medicine found no evidence for peer influence on the development or maintenance of addiction)
W-cannot be the only factor is reason for addiction - not a complete picture