Peer Pressure

Chiyuki Tokiwa

Peer Pressure

Peer Pressure: the strong influence of a group, especially of children, on group members to behave as everyone else does.  Conformity is achieved through means from tacitly guiding or overt pressure on those in the minority or by those with lower social status.

 

The term “peer” often refers to people one knows in real life and who have a similar societal grouping to oneself. However, peer pressure can also be exerted by the larger culture. ⁽¹⁾ Pressure from the majority opinion in a group can have a positive value in the socialization of those with detrimental societal opinions or behaviors. It can also negatively affect mental or physical health. This is also called peer group pressure. ⁽²⁾ “People across all age groups care about what others think, and that affects how much they value different ideas and actions,” says Dr. Emily Falk of the University of Pennsylvania. ^{(3)  Peer pressure can also occur when an individual is of a higher status either directly or indirectly altering another’s behavior (5).} 

It is 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), and/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. ⁽⁴⁾

There are various ways to force those who hold a minority opinion (problem with majority rule: suppression of minority opinion) to conform. Some tactics use threats, such as physical harm.  Others engage in shame campaigns and exclusionary tactics. Labeling people as ‘eccentrics’, ‘odd’, and ‘abnormal’ in hopes of making them conform or have others reject them and their ideas. Proverbs that stress the importance of conformity for the greater good such as “one bad apple spoils the bunch” or “the disorder of one part causes trouble to the whole” further instill the pressure to swim with the current (6) or risk the consequences.

Peer pressure can be seen on both individual and a societal/cultural level; from children in schools to the workplace, to media portrayals, and governmental campaigns.

 

Reference

(1) GoodTherapy, LLC. (2019, March 11). Peer pressure. GoodTherapy.org Therapy Blog. https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/peer-pressure

(2) American Psychological Association. (2018). Apa Dictionary of Psychology. American Psychological Association. https://dictionary.apa.org/peer-pressure

(3) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2022a, July 15). The power of peers. National Institutes of Health. https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2021/09/power-peers

(4) Experts, K. B. H. (Ed.). (n.d.). Peer pressure (for teens) – nemours kidshealth. KidsHealth. https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/peer-pressure.html#:~:text=It’s%20natural%20for%20people%20to,or%20have%20what%20others%20have.

(5) Hamilton, A. (2013). The good and bad of peer pressure, with Brett Laursen, Phd. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/peer-pressure