Valuation of Athletic Performance in Male Adolescent Peer Groups
This paper examines the contribution of athletic performance, as measured by a battery of psychomotor tests, to the value structures of organizationally constrained peer groups. Peer groups are represented by the complete male third years of 12 U. K. secondary modern schools located in London, Coventry, Manchester, and Liverpool. The two hypotheses were derived from the literature on peer influences in adolescence and the relationship between conformity and esteem. Both hypotheses are verified in that athletic performance was differentially valued within peer systems (Hypothesis 1) and such differential valuation related to differences in performance between systems (Hypothesis 2). Implications are drawn from the findings with regard to personal-social adjustment in adolescence.