Peer Group Influence

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Individuals associate themselves to social factions where they find inclination and succor. More often than not, these groups consist of members under the influence of uniform pressure. The peer groups can be classified as membership groups, social cliques, and dissociative groups. The conformance tendency and perspective change through the compulsion induced by a peer group is called peer pressure (Salkind, 2004). A peer group comprises of a collective set of people who have similar characteristics such as common interests, age group, and socio-economic status. It has the tendency to affect the beliefs and behavior of a person within the group. These groups encompass hierarchies and diverse patterns of conduct (Kistner, David-Ferdon, Repper, …show more content…

The friendships that started with common interest and hobbies tend to develop into a more involving relationship where commitment and loyalty is based on. Majority of the adolescents’ time which may last for several hours each day is spent alongside with their companions (Salkind, 2004). Adolescents are generally friends with whom they interact regularly.

These people engage in both positive and negative behaviors with the influence of their peer group. Friends are vital in psychological and social development of an individual but there are certain issues to be considered. Valuing the relationship of peers may force a person to do illegal activities such as drug misuse, weapon assault, and delinquency which may lead to undesirable health consequences (Sontag, Graber, & Broke-Gum, 2008; Kistner, David-Ferdon, Repper, & Joiner, 2006; Salkind, 2004). In contrast, sports and academic activities which are also common peer interest tend to ascertain more optimistic outcomes (Rosenberg, McKeon, & Dinero, …show more content…

There are members of the peer group who disagree with the group decision yet comply with it. They force themselves to accept the actions made by the group even if it crosses their own moral boundary. Others try to change their personal opinion in order to conform with the view of the group. Changing their beliefs in order to accept the presented knowledge by the group was a common response to peer pressure. In some cases, the members place faith in the group and agree with the decision without even considering the review of decision. This type of response was rash. People who resolve to this response willingly carry the intent of the group without analyzing the situation or even the reason for it. A rare type of people could be found within a peer group called the non-conformists. These people

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