Influence of media and peer on romantic involvement of young adults

AbstractEmerging and young adulthood is a stressful yet important event with a life-changing experience.Identity formation and forming a romantic relationship is an important developmental task of youngadulthood. It is a phase of life which is highly unstructured by social institutions. This study explored theeffect of social influence (media, peer) on the romantic involvement of young adults of G.B. PantUniversity of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand and Punjab Agriculture University,Ludhiana, Punjab. 400 young adults were selected by using snowball sampling method. Social Influenceon Romantic Relationship Scale (SIRRS) was used to explore the influence of social media onromantically involved young adults. Findings revealed that under-graduates were significantly moreinfluenced by media and peer for entering into romantic relationship than above graduate students. Thepossible reason for differences in peer influence is based on the reaction of the peer group towardbehaviours, reflecting the mechanism of social control. Keywords: Social influence, romantic relationships, young adults, media, peer