The Effects of Social Proof on Anxiety

We will use the actions of others to decide on proper behavior for ourselves. This tendency applies not only to adults, but to children as well. Health researchers have found that a school based anti smoking programme had lasting effects when it used same age peer leaders as teachers. Another study found that children who saw a film depicting a child's positive visit to the dentist lowered their own dental anxieties. I wish i had known about this second study when a few years before it was published,. i was trying to produce a different kind of anxiety in my son, chris.