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Press

Teens Worldwide Rate Mom the Most Influential Person in Their Lives

Dad’s Second, but Can’t Compete with the Lady of the House

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 6, 2009

Chicago, Ill. — Don’t tell Dad, but global teens agree: Mother knows best.

Asked to name the three most influential people in their lives, teens from 15 countries on five continents gave Mom the nod, according to The TRU Study: 2009 Global Teen Edition. The recently released study surveyed nearly 16,000 12- to 19-year-olds from all over the world, and more than 80% of teens in each country named Mom their most influential advice-giver when making decisions about the future.

Mothers scored best in Brazil and India, achieving a near unanimous 95% of the most-influential vote. Norwegian teens, while still emphatic about Mom’s influence, gave her the lowest score of any participating country (81%). Some 86% of teens in the United States called Mom most influential—a lower percentage than teens from European countries including Spain (94%), Italy (91%), the United Kingdom (91%), France (90%), Germany (89%), and Greece (89%).

While Mom takes (and often bakes) the cake, Dad settles for second billing in each participating country. Interestingly, his scores vary greatly from country to country: In India, 92% of teens agree that Dad’s one of their biggest influences (though he still trails Mom). Teens from Finland, however, are decidedly cooler toward the Old Man: just 62% say he’s one of their top-three influences. Nearly three-fourths of U.S. teens (73%) rate Dad in their top-three. As for their third most-influential person, global teens are split between friends and brothers or sisters.

Riz Badr, TRU’s Global Director, says that Moms worldwide can celebrate Mother’s Day knowing that their position within the family is second-to-none—no matter what Dad thinks. Still, there are some clear demographic differences in the data.

“Not surprisingly, mothers—the traditionally nurturing ‘good cop’ of the family unit—are rated most highly by younger teens,” Badr explains. “And, although Dad takes a back seat to Mom in every surveyed country, he scores much better with teen guys than with teen girls.”

Topics covered in the TRU Global Teen Study range from attitudes and values to lifestyles, trends and consumer behaviors.

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