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Friendship and Happiness pp 275–289Cite as

How are Positive and Negative Peer Relations Related to Positive and Negative Affect in Adolescents Over Time in New Zealand?

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Abstract

The present investigation was designed to answer the question of whether positive peer relations (defined as “peer connectedness” in the current study) fosters the development of positive affect, and similarly whether negative peer influences (i.e., misbehaviour caused by friend’s influences) fosters the development of negative affect. Self‐report data were collected from 1774 young adolescents in New Zealand (10–15 yrs. at the first time of measurement) two times separated by a year on measures of peer connectedness, negative peer influence, positive affect, and negative affect. Longitudinal analyses showed, as expected, that peer connectedness at Year 1 predicted an increase in positive affect and a decrease in both negative affect and negative peer influence 1 year later. Further, and as expected as well, negative peer influence at Year 1 predicted an increase in negative affect 1 year later. However, and contrary to the “happiness leads to success” hypothesis, high positive affect at T1 did not lead to greater peer social connectedness 1 year later, nor did negative affect lead to greater negative peer influence. And last, longitudinal moderation analyses suggested that adolescents were protected from negative peer influences one year later if they reported high positive affect and low negative affect at Year 1. Taken as a whole, the results supported the predictions that adolescents reporting high peer connectedness would increase in happiness, and adolescents reporting high negative peer influence would increase in unhappiness over time.

Thank you to the Foundation for Research and Technology for funding the research project that obtained the present dataset, to the schools, the parents, and the adolescents who participated in the study, and the research team that made the project possible. The author may be contacted at: School of Psychology, P.O. Box 600, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand 6012, or paul.jose@vuw.ac.nz.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    Paul E. Jose

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  1. Paul E. Jose
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Correspondence to Paul E. Jose .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

    Melikşah Demir

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Jose, P. (2015). How are Positive and Negative Peer Relations Related to Positive and Negative Affect in Adolescents Over Time in New Zealand?. In: Demir, M. (eds) Friendship and Happiness. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9603-3_16

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