“Friendly Persuasion”: A Social Network Analysis of Sex Differences in Marijuana Use

Abstract

Several hypotheses derived from the social network perspective on marihuana use were empirically tested. The importance of friendship networks as agents which affect drug taking was demonstrated. The normative expectations of one''s friends are apparently important influences on the individual. Other hypotheses that predict sex differences in marihuana use were tested and confirmed. The social network perspective can evidently be used to explain sex differences in the use of marihuana. The sex structure of friendship groups accounts of sex differences in use-abstinence and in the level of consumption among smokers. Implications of these results are discussed with particular reference to the generalizability of the social network perspective.