The Telegraph
Image: Lavender Dreamer
‘Why do we do this?” asks Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause, seconds before a deadly car race. “You’ve gotta do something, don’t you?” is the reply.
Now, 50 years later, psychology is ready to offer Jim a more satisfactory explanation. Science is exploring the adolescent brain, that most inscrutable of organs, and the results could save millions.
The real answer to Jim’s question is steeped in complicated neuroscience, but boils down to one simple factor: peer pressure. That is the view of Prof Laurence Steinberg, of Temple University, Philadelphia. Prof Steinberg has investigated the biological basis for risk taking in adolescence. Read more…
