Adult-Directed and Peer-Directed Respect for Authority: Relationships With Aggressive and Manipulative Behavior.

Feelings of respect for persons in authority, including admiration for authority figures and willingness to obey authority-directed commands, reflect a known attitudinal orientation which can influence individuals’ judgments and behavior. Respect is operationalized in multiple ways, primarily as either adherence to social rules, concern for equality and acceptance of others, caring for others, or social power (Langdon, 2007). In this paper, we focus on the “social power” aspect of respect – deference to a person with higher social status, such as an authority figure. In adolescents, research has suggested that elevated feelings of respect toward adult authority figures, including parents, teachers, and police officers, are associated with lower levels of aggression and other forms of antisocial behavior (e.g., Rigby Mak, & Slee, 1989; Tarry & Emler, 2007; Vener, Zaenglein, & Stewart, 1977). It is probable, however, that adults are not the only authority figures toward whom adolescents direct feelings of respect. Peers become an increasingly major influence on adolescents’ social behavior, particularly during middle school (Costanzo & Shaw, 1966). Furthermore, adolescent peer groups often have established social hierarchies, with students of high perceived popularity often holding positions of social authority (Savin-Williams, 1979); popular peers and friend group leaders can wield power over group membership and activities in which the group engages. Dijkstra, Cillessen, Lindenberg, and Veenstra (2010) suggested that popular youth may garner admiration from peers because being affiliated with or liked by those who are popular can bestow social benefits and increase one’s status within the peer group. Despite research demonstrating the importance of social power in adolescent peer groups, little research exists which examines adolescents’ feelings of respect for peers with positions of social authority. In one study on peer authority, Laupa and Turiel (1986) demonstrated that fifth-graders were more likely to legitimize the authority of same-aged peers than the authority of a random adult. However, adults determined those peers’ status by designating them as “conflict managers” in a peer-mediation program. As such, recognition of students’ authority may have been an extension of respect for adult authority. In this study, we have focused on respect directed towards peers whose authority derives from their natural social influence within the peer group – specifically, adolescents who are perceived as popular or who are recognized as friend group leaders. Typically, research has focused on the behavioral and personality characteristics of socially influential students (i.e., popular students) who garner the most admiration and obedience in their peer group (e.g., Closson, 2009; Hawley, Little, & Card, 2008; Lease, Kennedy, & Axelrod, 2002). In contrast, less attention has been paid to the attitudes and behaviors of the classmates who admire or follow these influential students. Investigating peers’ respect for popular adolescents and friend group leaders is likely to be informative over and above the investigation of these adolescents’ personal and social characteristics. In particular, knowing about the characteristics of popular peers or friend group leaders does not explain why some youth are more or less influenced by these individuals. Popularity and status are perceived in relation to the rest of the peer group, and one’s opinions about a peer’s status depend on beliefs about others’ perceptions of that peer. In contrast, respect for popular peers and friend group leaders is a personal orientation. Adolescents can agree with others that a certain peer is popular, but whether those adolescents are influenced by or try to emulate that peer might vary substantially according to their respect for that peer’s position of social authority. Respect for authority figures tends to generalize over different types of adult authority (Rigby, Schofield, & Slee, 1987); however, it is unclear whether this respect orientation generalizes to peer authority figures. That is, are adult-directed and peer-directed respect separate attitudes which vary within an individual? Adult-directed and peer-directed respect may also vary across gender: Gender differences have been found for adult-directed respect, with boys displaying slightly lower levels of adult authority legitimization in some cases (Cumsille, Darling, Flaherty, & Martinez, 2006). Limited research exists to date on gender differences in peer-directed respect; however, early adolescent boys are also more likely to pay attention to and support distinctions among individuals due to social dominance (Mata, Ghavami, & Wittig, 2009) and associate more positive traits and behaviors with popularity (LaFontana & Cillessen, 2010). Thus, respect for peer authority may be a more salient factor in boys’ social interactions and behavior. If adult-directed and peer-directed respect are distinct attitudinal orientations, it is possible that peer-directed respect may differ from adult-directed respect in its associations with negative social behavior. Adults usually discourage negative behavior like aggression and dishonesty among adolescents; strong feelings of respect toward adult authority figures may increase the internalization of these social norms and decrease adult-discouraged behavior. However, messages about behavior are more mixed when coming from peer authority figures. Although some socially influential adolescents who are highly regarded by their peers do promote and exemplify norms of positive social behavior, many popular and socially influential adolescents are “bistrategic controllers” (Hawley et al., 2008). In other words, in addition to positive behavior, these students frequently employ manipulation, coercion, and aggression to influence peers (Cillessen & Rose, 2005; Closson, 2009; Hawley et al., 2008). Importantly, popular students and friend group leaders are perceived by peers to engage in aggressive behavior more often than less popular classmates (Cillessen & Borch, 2006; Lansford et al., 2009), and this type of behavior is more accepted by peers if it is engaged in by popular students in their classroom (Dijkstra, Lindenberg, & Veenstra, 2008). Thus, holding socially influential peers in high regard may increase one’s emulation of their negative behaviors, internalization of their behavioral norms, or desire to maintain the hierarchical structure of the peer group which has given them their position, all of which could increase one’s own aggressive or manipulative behavior. Accordingly, whereas respect for adult authority is typically associated with lower levels of negative social behavior, strong feelings of peer-directed respect might be associated with higher levels of negative social behavior in adolescents.