INFLUENCE OF PEER PRESSURE ON SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR OF IN-SCHOOL ADOLESCENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ENUGU STATE

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate influence of peer pressure on social behaviour of in-school adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu State. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. It was guided by three research questions and hypotheses respectively from some in-school social behaviours like drug use, sexual behaviour and self-esteem. Population for the study consisted of all the 73,792 senior secondary school three (SS3) students in 314 public secondary schools in Enugu State. The sample for the study was 800 senior secondary school three (SS3) students drawn using proportionate sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was researcher structured questionnaire validated by three research experts from Educational Psychology and Measurement and Evaluation from Enugu State University of Science and Technology. An overall reliability coefficient of 0.80 was obtained using Cronbach alpha. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while test of hypotheses was analyzed using t-test at 0.05 level of significance. Major findings of the study indicated that male and female students agree on a great extent that peer pressure influence on social behaviours of in-school adolescents. Furthermore, there is no significant difference on the responses of male and female in-school adolescents on extent peer pressure influences the aforementioned social behaviour. It was recommended therefore amongst others that proper orientation and guidance be given by parents, guardians and teachers on crisis associated with adolescence in order to help students gain insight on the consequences of peer pressure on social behaviour in secondary schools in Enugu State.