Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Peer effects on youth screen media consumption in Catalonia (Spain)

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Cultural Economics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

It is well known that young people are major consumers of screen media and that their peers are one of the principal determinants of youth behavior as regards their patterns of consumption and other activities. On the basis of these premises, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of classroom peers on youth screen media consumption. More specifically, it considers the time spent watching TV, playing console games and surfing the Internet. Data are drawn from a single representative survey of secondary school students aged 14–16 in Catalonia (Spain) in 2008. Having accounted for problems of endogeneity, our analysis shows that peer consumption has a positive and statistically significant effect on an individual’s console and Internet use. While the magnitude of this effect is not great in the case of the former use, peer effects are quite marked in that of Internet consumption. Moreover, gender differences are observed when media consumption is examined separately. Thus, peer effects on console use are statistically significant only for boys, while the influence of peers on an individual’s Internet use is higher among boys than it is among girls.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Peer effects on an individual’s behavior have been analyzed in several other fields, including educational achievement, health status and habits as well as criminal activity. In the case of education, since Coleman et al’s. (1966) analysis, most studies have identified the effect of school peers on student performance, showing that ‘good peers’ in educational terms increase academic achievement at primary education (see Hoxby (2000) and Hanushek et al. (2003) for the United States), at secondary education (Dills (2005) in the United States, Zimmer and Toma (2000) for the United States and other five developed countries, and Kang (2007) in South Korea) as well as at University level (Sacerdote (2001) and Zimmerman (2003) for the United States). Moreover, Maani and Kalb (2007) point out that those whose peers have better marks have a lower probability to drop out at secondary education in New Zealand, and Duarte et al. (2011) show that if school peers have a higher rate of skipping classes, the probability of school truancy increases. However, there are also a few exceptions (Angrist and Lang 2004; Lefgren 2004; Arcidiacono and Nicholson 2005) that suggest that peer effects are very small or nonexistent. In relation to health, several authors have reported that friends or classmates have a significant impact on health-related behaviors in the young. Thus, smoking and drinking are increased if peers are also cigarette and alcohol consumers—see Norton et al. (1998) and Halliday and Kwak (2012) for the United States as well as Kiuru et al. (2010) for Finland (in this case there are positive effects on drinking but not on smoking). Likewise, Gaviria and Raphael (2001) and Clark and Loheac (2007) in the United States and Lundborg (2006) in Finland also find peer effects in alcohol and tobacco consumption as well as in drug consumption. Moreover, peer effects in alcohol consumption are also reported by Duarte et al. (2011) in Spain. Interestingly, Harris and González (2008) find asymmetric peer influence: The pro-smoking influence of one fellow smoker markedly exceeds the deterrent effect of a nonsmoking peer. Finally, Cohen-Cole and Fletcher (2008) and Halliday and Kwak (2009) show that the body mass index (BMI) is influenced by the BMI of peers. In addition, some authors discuss peer effects in relation to criminal activity. Thus, the behavior of neighborhood peers appears to substantially affect youth behavior (Case and Katz 1991), especially for females (Kling et al. 2005). In addition, Glaeser et al. (1995) point out that peer effects are highest in petty crimes (such as larceny and auto theft), moderate in more serious crimes (assault, burglary and robbery) and almost negligible in murder and rape. Finally, Bayer et al. (2009) show that more contact (in the same correctional facility) with juvenile offenders increases criminal behavior.

  2. The American Academy of Pediatrics (2001) classifies ‘low’ viewers as those who consume a maximum of 2 h of TV per day, and ‘high’ viewers as those who spend 4 or more hours.

References

  • American Academy of Pediatrics. (2001). Policy statement: Children, adolescents and television (RE0043). Pediatrics, 107(2), 423–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angrist, J., & Lang, K. (2004). Does school integration generate peer effects? Evidence from Boston’s Metco program. American Economic Review, 94(5), 1613–1634.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aranda, D., Sánchez Navarro, J., Tabernero, C., & Tubella, I. (2010). Los jóvenes del siglo XXI: prácticas comunicativas y consumo cultural. II Congreso Internacional AE-IC ‘Comunicación y desarrollo en la era digital’, Málaga.

  • Arcidiacono, P., & Nicholson, S. (2005). Peer effects in medical school. Journal of Public Economics, 89(2–3), 327–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arnett, J. J. (1995). Adolescents’ uses of media for self-socialization. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 24(5), 519–533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bayer, P., Hjalmarsson, R., & Pozen, D. (2009). Building criminal capital behind bars: Peer effects in Juvenile corrections. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 124(1), 105–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bercedo, A., Redondo, C., Pelayo, R., Gómez, Z., & Hernández, M. (2005). Consumo de los medios de comunicación en la adolescencia. Anales de Pediatría, 63(6), 516–525.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, J. H., Bishop, M., Bishop, M., Gelbwasser, L., Green, S., Peterson, E., et al. (2004). Why we harass nerds and freaks: A formal theory of student culture and norms. Journal of School Health, 74(7), 235–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bramoullé, Y., Djebbari, H., & Fortin, B. (2009). Identification of peer effects through social networks. Journal of Econometrics, 150(1), 41–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Case, A. & Katz, L. (1991). The company you keep: The effects of family and neighborhood on disadvantaged youths. NBER Working Paper 3705.

  • Castro, G. (2004). Los jóvenes: entre los consumos culturales y la vida cotidiana. Kairós, Revista de Temas Sociales, 14, 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chou, C., & Tsai, M. J. (2007). Gender differences in Taiwan high school students’ computer game playing. Computers in Human Behavior, 23(1), 812–824.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, A. E., & Loheac, Y. (2007). It wasn’t me, it was them! Social influence in risky behavior by adolescents. Journal of Health Economics, 26(4), 763–784.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen-Cole, E., & Fletcher, J. M. (2008). Is obesity contagious? Social networks vs. environmental factors in the obesity epidemic. Journal of Health Economics, 27(5), 1382–1387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J. S., Campbell, E. Q., Campbell, C. J., Hobson, J., McPartland, A. M., Mood, A. M., et al. (1966). Equality of educational opportunity. Washington, D.C.: US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colwell, J., & Kato, M. (2005). Video game play in British and Japanese adolescents. Simulation & Gaming, 36(4), 518–530.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devís-Devís, J., Peiró-Velert, C., Beltrán-Carrillo, V. J., & Tomás, J. M. (2009). Screen media time usage of 12–16 year-old Spanish school adolescents: Effects of personal and socioeconomic factors, season and type of day. Journal of Adolescence, 32(2), 213–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dills, A. K. (2005). Does cream-skimming curdle the milk? A study of peer effects. Economics of Education Review, 24(1), 19–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duarte, R., Escario, J. J., & Molina, J. A. (2011). Peer effects, unobserved factors and risk behaviours in adolescence. Revista de Economía Aplicada, 55(XIX), 125–151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feixa, C. (2005). Leisure and digital culture. Meeting on Youth Development Indicators. New York, 12–14 December.

  • Fromme, J. (2003). Computer games as a part of children’s culture. The International of Computer Game Research, 3(1), 1–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • FUNDACC (Fundació Audiències de la Comunicació i la Cultura). (2010). Dieta mediàtica i cultural dels joves 2010. Barcelona: El Baròmetre de la Comunicació i la Cultura. http://www.fundacc.org/docroot/fundacc/pdf/dieta_mediatica_i_cultural_joves_2010.pdf. Accessed 30 July 2010.

  • Gaviria, A., & Raphael, S. (2001). School-based peer effects and juvenile behavior. Review of Economics and Statistics, 83(2), 257–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • GfK Emer Ad-Hoc Research. (2010). Principales magnitudes de los contenidos digitales en España 2009. Madrid: ©red.es.

  • Giles, G., & Price, I. R. (2008). Adolescent computer use: Approach, avoidance, and parental control. Australian Journal of Psychology, 60(2), 63–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glaeser, E., Sacerdote, B., & Scheinkman, J. (1995). Crime and social interactions. NBER Working Paper 5026.

  • Halliday, T. J., & Kwak, S. (2009). Weight gain in adolescents and their peers. Economics and Human Biology, 7(2), 181–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halliday, T. J., & Kwak, S. (2012). What is a peer? The role of network definitions in estimation of endogenous peer effects. Applied Economics, 44(3), 289–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hancox, R. J., Milne, B. J., & Poulton, R. (2005). Association of television viewing during childhood with poor educational achievement. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 159(7), 614–618.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanushek, E. A., Kain, J. F., Markman, J. M., & Rivkin, S. G. (2003). Does peer ability affect student achievement? Journal of Applied Econometrics, 18(5), 527–544.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. E., & González, B. (2008). Asymmetric social interaction in economics: Cigarette smoking among young people in the United States, 1992–1999. Journal of Health Economics, 27(2), 249–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heckman, J. J., Stixrud, J., & Urzua, S. (2006). The effects of cognitive and non-cognitive abilities on labor market outcomes and social behavior. Journal of Labor Economics, 24(3), 411–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hertzberg Kaare, B., Bae Brandtzæg, P., Heim, J., & Endestad, T. (2007). In the borderland between family orientation and peer culture: the use of communication technologies among Norwegian tweens. New Media Society, 9(4), 603–624.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ho, S. M. Y., & Lee, T. M. C. (2001). Computer usage and its relationship with adolescent lifestyle in Hong Kong. Journal of Adolescent Health, 29(4), 258–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoxby, C. M. (2000). Peer effects in the classroom: Learning from gender and race variation. NBER Working Paper 7867.

  • Interarts. (2010). Access of young people to culture, final report. Resource document. EACEA/2008/01 (OJ 2008/S 91-122802). http://ec.europa.eu/youth/pdf/doc1790. Accessed 27 September 2011.

  • Irwin, C. E., Scott, J. B., & Uhler, C. (2002). America’s adolescents: Where have we been, where are we going? Journal of Adolescent Health, 31(6), 91–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iske, S., Klein, A., Kutscher, N., & Otto, H. U. (2008). Young people’s Internet use and its significance for informal education and social participation. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 17(2), 131–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kang, C. (2007). Classroom peer effects and academic achievement: Quasi-randomization evidence from South Korea. Journal of Urban Economics, 61(3), 458–495.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiuru, N., Burk, W. J., Laursen, B., Salmera-Aro, K., & Nurmi, J. E. (2010). Pressure to drink but not to smoke: Disentangling selection and socialization in adolescent peer networks and peer groups. Journal of Adolescence, 33(6), 801–812.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kling, J., Ludwig, J., & Katz, L. (2005). Neighborhood effects on crime for female and male youth: Evidence from a randomized housing voucher experiment. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 120(1), 87–130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee. L. (2008). The impact of young people’s Internet use on class boundaries and life trajectories. Sociology, 42(1), 137–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lefgren, L. (2004). Educational peer effects and the Chicago public schools. Journal of Urban Economics, 56(5), 169–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Livingstone, S., Bober, M., & Helsper, E. J. (2005). Active participation or just more information? Young people’s take-up of opportunities to act and interact on the Internet. Information, Communication & Society, 8(3), 287–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Louw, A., & Winter, M. (2011). The use of trends of information and communication technology (ICT) during middle childhood. Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 23(1), 29–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lundborg, P. (2006). Having the wrong friends? Peer effects in adolescent substance use. Journal of Health Economics, 25(2), 214–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maani, S. A., & Kalb, G. (2007). Academic performance, childhood economic resources, and the choice to leave school at age 16. Economics of Education Review, 26(3), 361–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manski, C. F. (1993). Identification of endogenous social effects: The reflection problem. Review of Economic Studies, 60(3), 531–542.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manski, C. F. (2000). Economic analysis of social interactions. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(3), 115–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, S. J., Gorely, T., & Biddle, J. H. (2006). A descriptive epidemiology of screen-based media use in youth: A review and critique. Journal of Adolescence, 29(3), 333–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MC—Ministerio de Cultura (2010). Anuario de estadísticas culturales 2010 (Cultural Statistics Yearbook 2010). Madrid: Ministerio de Cultura. http://www.mcu.es/estadisticas/MC/NAEC/index.html. Accessed 27 September 2011.

  • MC—Ministerio de Cultura (2011). Encuesta de hábitos y prácticas culturales 2010-2011 (Survey of Cultural Habits and Practices in Spain 2010-2011). Madrid: Ministerio de Cultura. http://www.mcu.es/estadisticas/MC/EHC/2010/Presentacion.html. Accessed 27 September 2011.

  • Munasib, A., & Bhattacharya, S. (2010). Is the ‘Idiot’s Box’ raising idiocy? early and middle childhood television watching and child cognitive outcome. Economics of Education Review, 29(5), 873–883.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nathanson, I. (2001). Parents versus peers: Exploring the significance of peer mediation of antisocial television. Communication Research, 28(3), 251–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norman, W. (1963). Toward an adequate taxonomy of personality attributes: Replicated factor structure in peer nomination personality ratings. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 66, 576–583.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norton, E. C., Lindrooth, R. C., & Ennett, S. T. (1998). Controlling for the endogeneity of peer substance use on adolescent alcohol and tobacco use. Health Economics, 7(5), 439–453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Padilla-Walker, L. M., & Coyne, S. M. (2011). “Turn that thing off!” Parent and adolescent predictors of proactive media monitoring. Journal of Adolescence, 34(4), 705–715.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roe, K. (2000). Adolescents’ media use: A European view. Journal of Adolescent Health, 27(2), 15–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roe, K., & Muijs, D. (1995). Literacy in the media age: Results from the first wave of a longitudinal study of children’s media use and educational achievement. Department of Communication: University of Leuven, Leuven.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roe, K., & Muijs, D. (1997). Literacy in the media age: Results from the second wave of a longitudinal study of children’s media use and educational achievement. Department of Communication: University of Leuven.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roe, K., & Muijs, D. (1998). Children and computer games: A portrait of the heavy user. European Journal of Communication, 13(2), 181–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sacerdote, B. I. (2001). Peer effects with random assignment. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 116(2), 681–704.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samdal, O., Tynjälä, J., Roberts, C., Sallis, J. F., Villberg, J., & Wold, B. (2006). Trends in vigorous physical activity and TV watching of adolescents from 1986 to 2002 in seven European Countries. European Journal of Public Health, 17(3), 242–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, M. E., & Vandewater, E. A. (2008). Media and attention, cognition, and school achievement. The Future of Children, 18(1), 63–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suess, D., Suoninen, A., Garitaonandia, C., Juaristi, P., Koikkalainen, R., & Oleaga, J. A. (1998). Media use and the relationships of children and teenagers with their peer groups. European Journal of Communication, 13(4), 521–538.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun, S., & Lull, J. (1986). The adolescent audience for music videos and why they watch. Journal of Communication, 36(1), 115–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suoninen, A. (2001). The role of media in peer group relations. In S. Livingstone & M. Bovill (Eds.), Children and their changing media environment: A European comparative study (pp. 201–219). London: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tabernero, C., Aranda, D., & Sánchez-Navarro, J. (2010). Juventud y tecnologías digitales: espacios de ocio, participación y aprendizaje. Revista de estudios de juventud, 8, 77–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vandewater, E. A., Shim, M., & Caplovitz, A. G. (2004). Linking obesity and activity level with children’s television and video game use. Journal of Adolescence, 27(1), 71–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willoughby, T. (2008). A short-term longitudinal study of Internet and computer game use by adolescent boys and girls: Prevalence, frequency of use, and psychosocial predictors. Developmental Psychology, 44(1), 195–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilska, T. A. (2003). Mobile phone use as part of young people’s consumption styles. Journal of Consumer, 26(4), 441–463.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Youniss, J., & Haynie, D. L. (1992). Friendship in adolescence. Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 13, 59–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmer, R. W., & Toma, E. (2000). Peer effects in private and public schools across countries. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 19(1), 75–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman, D. J. (2003). Peer effects in academic outcomes: Evidence from a natural experiment. Review of Economics and Statistics, 85(1), 9–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Josep-Oriol Escardíbul gratefully acknowledges the financial support from the Catalan Government (Generalitat de Catalunya -2009SGR352). Toni Mora gratefully acknowledges the financial support from the Catalan Government (Generalitat de Catalunya -2009SGR102).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Economics, University of Barcelona & Barcelona Institute of Economics (IEB) & Interdisciplinary Group on Educational Policies (GIPE), Av. Diagonal, 690, Tower 4, Floor 2, 08034, Barcelona, Spain

    Josep-Oriol Escardíbul

  2. School of Economics and Social Sciences, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya & Barcelona Institute of Economics (IEB), c/Immaculada, 22, 08017, Barcelona, Spain

    Toni Mora

  3. Department of Public Economics, University of Barcelona, c/Melcior de Palau, 140, 08014, Barcelona, Spain

    Anna Villarroya

Authors
  1. Josep-Oriol Escardíbul
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Toni Mora
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anna Villarroya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Josep-Oriol Escardíbul.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Escardíbul, JO., Mora, T. & Villarroya, A. Peer effects on youth screen media consumption in Catalonia (Spain). J Cult Econ 37, 185–201 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10824-012-9177-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10824-012-9177-3

Keywords

JEL Classification

Search

Navigation