Peer Pressure Research Paper

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.

Another problem that teens face on a daily basis is peer pressure. Teens face these pressures every day about simple things such as who they like or dont like, what games they play, what they wear, etc. These may seem harmless, but when it comes to peer pressure about more dangerous things, the concept is the same. Teens face peer pressure to drink alcohol. 00% of teens say that they feel the effects of peer pressure according to some study....

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

Peer pressure can be used in many ways. Animal Farm is an allegory by George Orwell. It is about farm animals that weren’t satisfied of how their farm is run so they rebel. They make 7 commandments being “All animals are equal” the most important one. The book shows how total equality is hard to achieve and power corrupts. The novel uses peer pressure to control and manipulate what is happening on the farm. It is evident on how the action of the animals changes. It is evident on how Boxer’s way of thinking changes. It is also evident in the actions of the sheep and what it does to the other animals. Peer pressure plays a big role in this novel.

When a child reaches the age of ten and up, no matter what gender, their behavior changes. The transition from childhood to adulthood goes through puberty, a period in life where adolescents are inclined to do actions that are risky like smoking, having unprotected sex and drinking alcohol. However these actions vary depending on ethnicities. The objective of this essay will be to compare and contrast risky activities, parental control and peers pressure to two different ethnic groups from America, white and black teens.

More than ever in this society as children find the need to belong or fit in to the popular crowd in school for acceptance they often tend to mimic their friends behaviors. This is often a result of the individual child trying to find him or herself. The results however, are not always negative. In fact, there are some positive results that may occur as a result of copying their peers. Simply stated, “When teens surround themselves with people who make good decisions and who are involved with positive activities and choices, it makes the adolescent child want to be better” (Stock, 2010 pg.2). Positive peers influence adolescents and can drive the child toward improved confidence, and improved grades in school. Inversely, the same can be said for the adolescent child who decides that he or she wants to be like his or her friends who have a negative influence. Children who fall into this category are those that are of the bandwagon philosophy. Those negatively impacted by peers often show signs of lower grades in school, increased distance from family. In fact, “peer pressure can lead to experimentation with drugs and alcohol, and various high risks behaviors” (Fact Sheets, 2009 pg.1). The changes in the adolescent child can have lasting effects depending on which type of peer influences that child may be surrounded by. The negative impact of peer pressure can be strong; however there are also positive influences.

Peer influence can occur in several different ways, including modelling (Hundelby and Mercier, 1987) and direct peer persuasion (Graham, Marks, & Hansen, 1991). However, more recent research has acknowledged that simply studying peer influence may ignore other group-level aspects, leading to a greater number of studies which implement the use of SNA to determine network-level measures that enhance the conceptualization of peer influence. Research has focused on many types of troublesome adolescent behaviour, including alcohol consumption (Bot et al, 2005), smoking (Wiist and Snider, 1991; Abel, Plumridge and Graham, 2002; Ennett et al, 2008; Valente, Unger, and Johnson, 2005), substance abuse (Ennett et al, 2006), eating disorders (Hutchinson & Rapee, 2006), and risky sexual behaviour (Okonkwo, Fatusi, and Ilika, 2005). The mechanisms of peer influence in these studies are different but related, and are modified by friendship and group characteristics. For example, in their study about drinking behaviour, Bot et al (2005) found that the friendship dimensions that most affected the tendency to drink alcohol were relative differences in sociometric status and degree of reciprocity desired within the friendship1. In 1996, Ennett and Bauman concluded that simple peer influence is not a powerful determinant of adolescent substance abuse because of friendship selection characteristics, and recommended the use of SNA to provide a more critical examination. Later,

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.

The purpose of this literature review paper is to navigate and explore different effects in society towards peer pressure, conformity and rebellion. This study attempts to answer the following research questions: How does peer pressure, conformity, and rebellion affects adolescents in society? The main goal of this review is to have knowledge of the effects of this three concepts such as: peer pressure, conformity and rebellion.

Peers are the people one associates with. They are usually one’s age grade, friends and classmates. They

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.

Teenagers who are involved with peer pressure face many challenges with his or her own decision-making. Teens may be going through a phase of peer pressure and not even notice that they are being pressured (Peer Pressure 1). The peers who

The influence of peers on adolescent development has been well documented in research. Adolescence is documented as a period of development in which peers begin to have a greater influence than parents (Schwinn & Schinke, 2014). Increased levels of peer interactions, with a decrease in parental interactions, are observed during adolescence. Increases in peer interactions can result in greater orientation toward peer conformity and acceptance, and an increased importance of close friendships (Telzer et. al, 2015). Adolescence is also marked by a heightened involvement in risky behaviors (underage drinking, illegal drug use, risky sexual behaviors). The presence of peers leads to more engagement in risky behaviors by adolescents. Numerous studies have shown that adolescents take more risks when in the presence of peers (Smith, Chein, & Steinberg, 2014).

Growing up as a teenager (between the ages of 13-19), you are exposed to many forms of peer pressure. Some of these forms causes us to think “is this really worth trying/doing?”, or “will my popularity