Teacher knows best? The social influence of teachers and peers in high school

Social norms are crucial to human development and social functioning. They play an important role in the formation of personal norms and intentions concerning risk-taking and prosocial behaviors. During adolescence, the school becomes a prominent environment where individuals gain a deeper understanding of broader social norms, helping them navigate the complexities of adult society. Here, adolescents may learn social norms from two key sources: peers and teachers. While heightened sensitivity to peers is well established, less is known about the influence of teachers in shaping adolescent personal norms and intentions. We performed a pre-registered two-wave experiment (N = 270; Mage = 13.7 years old) to investigate how normative information from peers and teachers directly and indirectly shapes intentions for risk-taking and prosocial behaviors. Results from our moderated mediation analysis indicate that normative information influences intentions for risk-taking and prosociality both directly and indirectly by shaping personal norms. Furthermore, while the source does not moderate the direct effect, it does moderate the indirect pathway by influencing personal norms. In particular, adolescents tend to conform more strongly to peer norms and exhibit anti-conformity toward teacher norms in the context of risk-taking. Overall, our findings highlight the often overlooked importance of teachers in co-shaping social norms during these formative years.