This literature summary, using meta-analysis, compares the influence of parents versus peers on substance use. The data indicated that the average relationship for peer effects on substance use was larger than the effect for parental influence. Several moderating influences (such as youth age and type of substance) are considered. The findings indicate that the relative size of parental and peer influence varies with the age of the adolescent and the type of substance. The results indicate that both parents and peers influence decisions about substance use. Future educational interventions concerning substance use should consider how best to combine these two sources of influence.

Although scholars have discussed the occurrence of gossip in social situations, gossip's function as a social influence tool has received little theoretical attention. Of particular interest is the issue of whether gossip is untrustworthy, leading to relational demise, or whether gossip can lead to perceived liking, trust, and expertise. The prediction was made that whether gossip acts as relational ruin or social glue depends on the valence of the gossip and the type of relationship among the communicators. It was proposed that source cue perceptions will be the function of an interaction between relationship type and gossip valence. Specifically, friends' judgments will not be affected by gossip valence, but strangers' assessments of liking, trust, and expertise will increase when gossip is positive and will decrease when gossip is negative (when controlling for propensity to gossip). An experiment was designed to test these predictions. The data indicated that both positive and negative gossip are perceived negatively for both friends and strangers.