Peer Pressure: Definition, Types, Examples, and Ways to Cope
Content
Making healthy decisions is a crucial part of growing up to be a healthy and happy individual. At first, our parents played the most important role in helping us make decisions. However, the opinions of peers have a more significant weight during our teen years, influencing how we choose what to do or what not to do. Types of peer pressure can greatly affect how we decide on all sorts of things, from what to wear, who to date, and even what to eat, drink, or smoke.
If, however, the spoken influence takes place within a group, the pressure to go along with the group is immense. When it comes to pressures around alcohol and other drug use, something else to think about is that most students overestimate how many of their peers drink or use drugs. The truth is that many fewer college students drink or use drugs than people which of the following is a type of indirect peer pressure? assume. It’s similar with sex and “hooking up”—most students have a skewed idea of what others are doing. Knowing the facts can help you to resist pressures based on the idea that “everyone is doing it” and that you must party to fit in. Once a child begins seeing themselves as a part of a community, the desire to fit in may occur for better or worse.
Normative Peer Pressure
This can pressure young individuals to change different aspects of their identity to conform to what everybody else is doing. 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.
However, it is important to note that peer pressure can also sometimes be positive. Therapy sessions and support groups offer spaces to build new, healthy relationships with individuals who share your commitment to sobriety. Engaging in these supportive environments can empower you to make positive decisions, steering clear of the negative impacts of peer pressure. Negative peer pressure occurs when friends negatively influence each other.
Type of Peer Pressure
It’s possible that a friend who is peer pressuring you simply wants to spend more time with you or connect with you, but they don’t know how else to ask. When you’re faced with a choice, ask yourself what your reasons are for doing something. 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.
A 2020 study estimates that in 2016, 11.6% of adult drug users had problematic drug use or an addiction. People may deliberately choose to use drugs to fit in and avoid rejection. Or peer pressure may be more subtle, slowly normalizing drug use and making it seem less threatening. In the 1940s, Nazi Germany , led by Adolf Hitler, began a systematic https://ecosoberhouse.com/ purge against the Jewish people living in Europe, killing around six million Jews by the end of World War II. When bringing the concept of peer pressure into the Holocaust, German culpability is even harder to decide. Of course, you probably wish all pressure from peers was positive, but the reality is that it’s not as common as the negative form.
Peer Pressure in Children
In this article, we look at peer pressure and how it relates to drug use in more detail. We explain how peer pressure works, why it has the potential to lead to substance use disorders, and how people can resist peer pressure to use recreational drugs. It can sometimes manifest as indirect pressure, such as when a person perceives that many or even all of their peers use drugs. Young people may be more susceptible to peer pressure because their identities are still forming; they desire to fit in and not be bullied and have less risk aversion than adults. Peer pressure is any type of influence, positive or negative, that comes from a peer group.
While peer influence can improve your life, peer pressure can cause problems. For example, you may feel pressure to do unsafe things that have risks you may not fully know. Resisting peer pressure can involve avoiding it, saying no, and surrounding yourself with more positive influences. Peer pressure can lead a person to engage in sexual activity before they are ready. It may also influence the person to participate in unsafe, risky, or dangerous sexual activities.