Social isolation impacts risk perception but not peer influence in mid-adolescence

Thomas, Kirsten, Towner, Emily, Tomova, Livia, Chierchia, Gabriele and Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne 2025. Social isolation impacts risk perception but not peer influence in mid-adolescence. Acta Psychologica 261 , 105886. 10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105886

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Abstract

Adolescence is a period of increased sensitivity to the social world, when social connection becomes particularly important and peer influence is heightened, especially in the context of risky decision-making. Here, we investigated whether peer influence and risk perception are affected following an absence of social interaction. In an experimental within-participants design, 40 participants aged 16-19 completed short-term isolation with and without access to virtual social interactions, and a non-isolated baseline, and completed a task that measured risk perception and susceptibility to peer influence. The results demonstrated that, first, while participants showed significant peer influence in all sessions, this was not affected by isolation. Second, after complete isolation, participants perceived situations as less risky, compared to isolation with virtual interactions. These findings indicate that isolation affects adolescents' perception of risk, which might have implications for risk-taking when social connection is lacking.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Psychology Research Institutes & Centres > Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC)
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0001-6918
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	2 December 2025
Date of Acceptance:	29 October 2025
Last Modified:	02 Dec 2025 12:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/182829

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