Peer Influences on Adolescent Decision Making PMC

At each of 20 intersections, participants render a decision to either stop the vehicle (STOP) or to take a risk and run the traffic light (GO). Unsuccessful risk taking results in a crash, and a relatively long delay. Summary indices of risk taking include (a) the proportion of intersections in which the participant decides to run the light, and (b) the total number of crashes. By being conscious of our integrity and constantly examining our actions and behavior, we can hold on to our values and belief systems. The positive effects are the pressures that bring about stability, adherence to work ethics and the need to stay competitive.

Examples of Negative Peer Pressure

Cooperation is a source of consonance and efficiency (Bukowski et al., 2009). Cooperation enables friends and peer group members to coordinate and attain goals by synchronizing behavior. Cohesion fosters cooperation and is best attained when individuals subordinate their identities to the friendship or the group. Subordination of self to attain relationship goals is an important way that partners demonstrate compatibility, because reciprocity assumptions are built on partner need satisfaction.

• Friends fulfill unique social needs, which makes friendships uniquely influential.
• This section addresses the motives and functions of peer influence.
• Even if no one tells the teenager to smoke a cigarette in the example above, the teen may still feel pressured by their peers to partake in the activity because it seems like everyone is doing it.
• Fearing the sanctions levied against those who undermine group norms, individuals monitor and modify their own behavior, to avoid being perceived as an outlier (Wellen & Neale, 2006).
• More research is needed on the particulars surrounding similarity priorities that underlie manifestations of influence.

Groups that peer pressure commonly affects

If it’s because all of your friends are doing it and you’re afraid they won’t talk to you if you don’t join them, then you may want to reconsider. Instead of quickly agreeing to do something you’d rather not do, pause and take a few deep breaths. If someone is waiting for you to answer them, tell them you need to take a few days and think about it. It’s easier to resist the pressure when you put some time and space between yourself and the situation. Peer pressure causes people to do things they would not otherwise do with the hope of fitting in or being noticed.

Peer Pressure: Why We Feel It, How to Overcome it, and Can It Be Positive?

This might manifest in spending time in environments where substance use is common, or mimicking the behaviors of your peers to gain approval, even if it goes against your recovery goals. Self‐determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2017) similarly argues that humans are motivated by a set of basic psychological needs. Broadly https://ecosoberhouse.com/ speaking, much of human behavior is intrinsically motivated, with the goal of optimizing developmental outcomes through the satisfaction of needs. One such motive is relatedness, a basic, universal need that undergirds behaviors designed to establish feelings of connectedness and intimacy with others (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

Further evidence that peer influence is not limited to deviance comes from research on prosocial behavior. In another experimental study using a simulated electronic chat room, prosocial responses to hypothetical dilemmas (in the form of intent to volunteer ratings) increased the most in response to higher status peers (Choukas‐Bradley et al., 2015). The theory of reasoned action (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) holds that behaviors are a function of intentions, and intentions are a product of attitudes which of the following is a type of indirect peer pressure? about behaviors and perceptions of subjective norms. Thus, individuals who view a behavior positively and who think others do the same are inclined to engage in the behavior. Beliefs about one’s abilities bolster intentions and strengthen confidence in successful outcomes, further increasing the likelihood that an individual will engage in a behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Sometimes, social norms are filtered through attitudes toward and willingness to engage in a behavior (Gibbons et al., 2003).

Peer Influence Promotes Similarity and Enhances Compatibility

There are several different types of peer pressure that kids and adolescents may experience. Types of peer pressure include spoken and unspoken, direct and indirect, and negative and positive. Changing hormones, developing brains and emerging identities makes the start of adolescence a particularly vulnerable time, where peer pressure is most influential. This is also a stage in life where friend groups are of utmost importance and the need to fit in is a major factor in decision making.

Wise Choices

So, we can see peer influence in the very early grade school years. We see it over behavior problems where one set of peers will influence another to act badly. We also see it over academic achievement where friends do better when they’re paired with other kids who are doing better in school.

• These peers also influence you by the way they dress and act, things they’re involved in, and the attitudes they show.
• This pressure may be expressed openly (“Oh, come on — it’s just one beer, and everyone else is having one”) or more indirectly — simply making beer available at a party, for instance.
• You and your friends make dozens of decisions every day, and you influence each other’s choices and behaviors.
• The third part examines incompatibility as an antecedent of exclusion.
• It’s not always easy to resist negative peer pressure, but when you do, it is easy to feel good about it afterward.

Establish Positive Friendships

CONCEPTUAL UNDERPINNINGS OF THE INFLUENCE‐COMPATIBILITY MODEL

• The need to belong probably has origins in the survival and reproductive benefits that accrue from group membership.
• Peer pressure can lead a person to engage in sexual activity before they are ready.
• Fortunately, social media can also promote positive peer pressure through groups that support charitable causes or pages that highlight inspirational stories.
• Peer pressure is internal or external pressure felt to behave in certain ways, both good and bad.