Abstract Young children tend to follow others’ food preferences. Whether this conformity applies to actual food/beverage consumption, however, is understudied. The present study tested whether sixty-three 3- to 6-year-old preschoolers conformed to remote peers’ beverage taste preferences. Participants indicated taste preference between two beverage options (standard v. sweetened), independently and after having been told that remote peers selected the opposite beverage. After the social influence manipulation, beverage preference and quantity consumed were measured. Results revealed a trend of conformity both in beverage preferences and subsequent private consumption patterns. These findings suggest that peers may be influential social reference figures for young children not just for beverage choice but also for associated consumption behavior. Age and thirst status was also found to be correlated with conformity, such that peers may play a more important role as preschoolers get older and that thirst may weaken social influence by peers.

中文翻译：

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酒友对幼儿重要吗？：学龄前儿童对偏远同龄人的饮料选择的依从性

摘要 幼儿倾向于遵循他人的食物偏好。然而，这种一致性是否适用于实际的食品/饮料消费尚未得到充分研究。本研究测试了 63 名 3 至 6 岁的学龄前儿童是否符合远程同龄人的饮料口味偏好。参与者在被告知远程同龄人选择了相反的饮料后，独立地表明了两种饮料选择（标准与甜味）之间的口味偏好。在社会影响操纵之后，测量饮料偏好和消费量。结果揭示了饮料偏好和随后的私人消费模式的一致性趋势。这些发现表明，同龄人可能是幼儿的有影响力的社会参考人物，不仅在饮料选择方面，而且在相关的消费行为方面也是如此。