Consequences of Peer Pressure: Real-Life Examples

Giving in to the pressure to dress a certain way is one thing — going along with the crowd to drink or smoke is another. It’s natural for people to identify with and compare themselves to their peers as they consider how they wish to be (or think they should be), or what they want to achieve. People are influenced by peers because they want to fit in, be like peers they admire, do what others are doing, or have what others have.

Peers and parents promote the construction of beauty ideals, norms, and standards and highlight the importance of appearance. However, to our knowledge no theoretical framework has yet integrated the main influences from both peers and parents discussed in the literature. In order to develop a comprehensive measure of appearance-related pressure from peers and parents (see [17]), we reviewed the literature and found influences from friends[1, 2] and schoolmates as well as teasing or exclusion to be the most established peer influences. Although there is preliminary evidence that peer factors may be directly and indirectly related to adolescent behavior problems, it is possible that these pathways may vary by adolescent sex, age, and ethnicity. For example, there may be stronger links among older youth as they often report spending more time with their friends compared to younger adolescent (Larson & Richards, 1991). Indeed, Fleming, Catalano, Haggerty, and Abbott (2010) reported that adolescent perceptions of negative peer relationships at grade 9 (but not grade 5) predicted self-reports of substance use at age 19.

Understanding the psychosocial factors influencing the risky behaviour of young drivers

For example, children have reported that friends may suppress or reinforce the expression of certain emotions, such as anger or sadness (Zeman & Garber, 1996). Likewise, friends can serve as role models for adaptive or maladaptive emotion regulatory skills (von Salisch, 2001). In addition to theoretical evidence, empirical findings from the literature have provided further support for the links between peer factors and emotion regulation. For instance, Rudolph, Troop-Gordon, and Flynn (2009) found that peer relational victimization (child reports) was positively and significantly related to observed emotion dysregulation. These findings are consistent with Kelly et al. (2008) who reported that peer nominations of bullying and rejection were positively and significantly related to teacher reports of adolescent emotion dysregulation. In sum, there is preliminary empirical and theoretical evidence that peer factors are related to adolescent emotion regulation, which in turn, is related to behavior problems.

It involves the dynamics of peers urging each other to adopt certain attitudes, beliefs, values, or behaviors in order to gain acceptance within the group. Parents can become the strongest influence on their children, as long as they understand and are aware of the different types of pressure they face. Healthy supportive family relationships, behaviors that demonstrate responsibility, openness to dialogue, freedom from prejudice, and avoidance of judgment are often components that develop a positive influence on adolescents. This can affect anyone at any given age, but it takes a tool mostly in adolescents because as they try to develop friendships and fit in, they end up falling prey to social pressure.

Spoken Peer Pressure

While different types of peer pressure may, on the surface, appear to be a negative attribute, they still play a vital role in everyday life and can be beneficial and even positive. Additionally, psychological studies conclude that social reinforcement is more pronounced among peers directly connected to us. For example, a best friends’ advice versus advice from a well-known celebrity. Here is an activity you can do to become aware of the different types of peer pressure. Review the following scenarios and ask if each one is an example of direct negative peer pressure, indirect negative peer pressure or positive peer pressure.

It is often difficult for teenagers to ignore social pressures, and peer pressure can have a massive influence on an adolescent’s behaviors and actions. Peer pressure can then have a significant impact which of the following is a type of indirect peer pressure? on teenage alcohol consumption. Approaches are needed that strengthen those adolescents who are particularly at risk – in our study, these were girls and adolescents with higher weight status.

How often does adolescent drug use become addiction?

The presence of passengers, and especially of peers, has been shown to affect young drivers’ behavior. Some authors have found the presence of peer passengers to be a factor preventing risky driving. However, other studies have found that peer presence increases the crash risk and the severity of resulting injuries (Lambert-Bélanger et al., 2012, Lee and Abdel-Aty, 2008, Preusser et al., 1998, Vollrath et al., 2002). In order to increase our understanding regarding its negative influence on young drivers’ https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/alcohol-addiction-treatment-how-to-make-alcohol-recovery-sustainable/ behavior, we will review three different ways in which peer presence can disrupt their driving activity. Who should we be friends with, what subjects should we choose, where should we work, how much money should we save, where should we buy our new house, are all decisions that we need to take each day. If that was not confusing enough, we all have a huge circle of peers, including our friends, co-workers, and those we interact with on social media, who influence our decisions directly and indirectly.

In some cases, people may continue using the substance as part of social activity, such as drinking at parties or smoking because everyone else is taking a smoke break. Many people consider peer pressure a negative thing, but this isn’t always the case. People, especially teens and young adults, may be more likely to do prosocial behaviors when they see people their own age doing the same things. For example, research has shown that teens with friends who volunteer are more likely to volunteer themselves. People who feel overwhelmed by peer pressure may find strength and support from family members, friends, or a therapist.

Teens who saw those images were four times as likely to have used marijuana and three times as likely to have consumed alcohol.[13] In the decade since teens’ social media use and the pressure they feel from it have only increased. Body mass variations in the perception of more subtle, norm-related aspects of pressure have rarely been investigated and could only be observed to a lesser extent in our sample. However, small effects for school and class norms indicated that high-average students show the highest levels.

Indeed, research has shown significant peer effects regarding the impact of community-based programs and interventions (see Lansford, 2006 for a review). Moreover, peers have participated in interventions focusing on emotion-approach coping among college students (Baker & Berenbaum, 2008) and socioemotional development among kindergarteners (Gatzke-Kopp, Greenberg, & Bierman, 2015). Thus, interventions targeting adolescent regulation of daily emotion, behavior, and/or mood may be more successful with the inclusion of friends in the programs. Gender effects for peer pressure are in line with current research, indicating that girls are more strongly affected by peer influences and the impact of friends is especially important [7, 46]. Gender effects with regard to teasing experiences have been controversial because of limitations in the measurement of teasing.

People who are struggling with insecurity, people who are still developing their identity, may naturally be drawn to this confidence. In an attempt to model this imitation self-confidence, they may start to use drugs or alcohol themselves. This particular form of peer pressure can be so subtle and pervasive that one might not be aware of it.