ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I explore what is meant by the social brain, and show how this concept illuminates our understanding of the peer group and its importance for young people. The first themes to consider are popularity and conformity. We know how crucial these aspects of friendship and social relations are during the teenage years, and knowledge of brain function helps us to make sense of how these things work. I then go on to have another look at risky behaviour. The reason for this is that much of the early research on the brain linked the likelihood of risk-taking with the involvement of the peer group. I outline recent studies on this topic and show the situation to be more nuanced than was originally believed. The next topic in the chapter is social media – again, something that has attracted huge public concern. There follows a review of the impact of cognitive development on the understanding of the peer group, including the development of emotion recognition, perspective-taking and social evaluation. The chapter concludes with a discussion of rejection, isolation and loneliness.
