Article Details

This study investigated peer pressure as correlate of social interaction and class attendance of in-school adolescents in Makurdi and Guma Local Government Areas, Benue State Nigeria. To guide the study, two research questions and hypotheses were raised and formulated respectively. A correlational survey design was adopted for the study and multistage sampling techniques was used to select the 368 respondents out of the total population of 1778 students from the 29 public secondary schools in Makurdi and Guma Local Government Areas of Benue State. A self-structured questionnaire titled: “Student Academic performance questionnaire (SAPQ)” and an adopted Peer Pressure Inventory titled: “Peer Pressure Questionnaire (PPQ) were used to elicit information from the respondents. The content and face validity of the instrument were done by 3 experts in the Faculty of Education, Benue State University Makurdi. To determine the reliability of the instrument, Cronbach Alpha formula was used to determine the reliability coefficients of SAPQ and PPQ and the coefficients obtained were 0.88 and 0.78 respectively. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to answer the research questions and tested hypotheses at 0.5 level of significance.  The findings revealed that there is a positive correlation between Peer Pressure and Students’ Social Interaction, there is a negative correlation between Peer Pressure and Students’ Class Attendance of students in Makurdi and Guma LGAs of Benue State. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that educational psychologist, counselors and teachers in secondary schools should supervise, educate and monitor students through counseling on how to relate with peers in relation to their social interaction and class attendance.