Peer Pressure

Peer pressure can take place whenever people gather and spend frequent time together. Most people are subject to its effects and often experience it because of shared experiences or they share the same perspective on life. This becomes dangerous when a group has enough influence to dictate an individual’s way of thinking or behavior. When an individual is desperate to find a place to belong, they will follow the crowd even if they know that they are participating in something immoral; this is demonstrated in “We Real Cool.”

If someone asked you to jump off a bridge with two of your friends, would you do it? Peer pressure is defined by social pressure from members of one's peer group to take a certain action, adopt certain values, or otherwise conform in order to be accepted. There are many types of peer pressure; a common one is group pressure.

Peer pressure is the influence a peer group has on its members to fit into a particular way of thinking and behaving. When children are very young the major influences in their lives are their family and caregivers. Behaviour, attitudes and expectations in young children are learned from the modelling of others. This is the way we all learn, first from caregivers and then we include our peers when we start school and attend any activity away from family. Our Peers have a considerable influence on our behaviour and outlook on life as we all learn together. Youth spend large amounts of time with Peers, who are learning about themselves as they grow up.

Peer pressure, or the direct or indirect encouragement from ones own age group to engage in activities they may

Peer pressure influences teenagers because they might not want to do the things that their friends do. Many teenagers will be victims of peer pressure because their friends think that they might not be good enough to be in their groups. Another thing is that they think they don’t fit in with their friends. Their friends are going to tell them something and they will actually do it then after that their friends laugh at them or make fun of them. Laurie Halse Anderson the author of “Speak” is saying that peer pressure is dangerous and can be more harmful when their is more than one person doing the pressuring. Melinda friend Rachel left Melinda to eat by herself because Rachel friends said that she can not eat with them anymore.

Peer pressure can be both good and bad. It can be good in the way of, say

By definition, peer pressure is described as social pressure by members of one’s peer group to take a certain action, adopt certain values, or otherwise confirm in order to be accepted. Considering peer pressure is something that everyone experiences, whether they wish to admit it or not, there are numerous definitions for it; especially since it affects everyone so differently.

Even though risky behavior and peer pressure can have a variety of different meanings for people, typically, it is a relation to drugs or alcohol. Most of the time, it seems that the most well-known types of peer pressure come from friends partaking in a substance such as drugs or alcohol and trying to persuade someone else in the group. According to the article “Peer pressure and risk-taking behaviors in children” by Lewis and Lewis (1984), peer pressure is a major factor in the development of risk-taking behaviors such as alcohol, drug, and tobacco use. (Lewis & Lewis, 1984) Not only are these risk-taking behaviors prevalent throughout life, but most specifically throughout college. In their book Monitoring the future national survey results on drug use Johnston, O’Malley, Bachman, and Schulenberg (2009), all suggest that the biggest difference between college students and their non-college peers is largely due to the environment at college. (Johnston et al., 2009)

Positive peer pressure is everybody’s favorite. It shows how friends can help each other do great things. Good friends are a great example. “They can encourage teens to do well in school, get involved in positive activities, volunteer, eat healthy foods, and avoid drugs, alcohol, and other risky activities.” (Unknown; Peer Pressure). Good Friends or best friends can also help teens learn good social skills and better ways to communicate and work out problems, and give teens good advice.

Your peers are the people with whom you identify and spend time. In children and teens, they are usually, but not always, of the same age group. In adults, peers may be determined less by age and more by shared interests or professions. Peer pressure occurs when an individual experiences implied or expressed persuasion to adopt similar values, beliefs, and goals, or to participate in the same activities as those in the peer group.

“Social influence is the process by which the actions of an individual or group affect the behavior of others” (Feldman 495). These influences are strongly experienced by members in the group. Every group is unique and is mostly guided by a particular norm and behavior. An individual in a group passively or actively allows himself to be influenced by the group just to have a sense of belongingness. In the bid to prevent being excluded or rejected from a group, some individuals overtly adhere to the norms of the group. “Thus, people conform to meet the expectations of the group” (Feldman 495).

There are 3 different types of peer pressure, the first one is direct. Direct peer pressure is when other teenagers pressure an individual into making a choice. The second type is indirect peer pressure, which is when a teenager is exposed to something negative like smoking, but they aren't directly told to participate. The last type is individual, which is when an individual feels the

There are various cause and effects of peer pressure. Peer pressure is pressure or influence from a person’s peers. Peers are often described people of the same age group or social group. Peers will feel the need to be in control and will often surround themselves with weak-minded or people with low self-esteem to have the do their bidding. The causes of peer pressure include the need to fit in, low self-esteem, fear of rejection, and at most time the need to feel safety and security from peers. The effects of peer pressure can be negative and also have the worst outcomes.

In society today, people tend to make decisions based on the actions and choices of others. Peer pressure is a very real issue that affects most of the teenagers of the world today. it is a dangerous form of persuasion. It causes teenagers to easily succumb to unethical activities under the influence and pressure of their friends. people see the effects of

You might have wondered if others have had the experience of being peer pressured. They have. Whether it be as simple as your parents forcing you to eat your broccoli at dinner or it could be as serious as someone forcing you to drink alcohol under the legal age. Have you ever been peer pressured? How did it feel? Peer pressure doesn’t have to be negative though. There is also something called positive peer pressure. Positive peer pressure is when your friends or someone forces you to do something that will benefit you. Has your mom ever forced you to go study for your next test? That is positive peer pressure. She is forcing you to do something that will only benefit your well being. When it is negative peer pressure though, you don’t end up being proud of yourself in the end.