--Original published at Tyler's Ideas

Peer pressure is a growing problem in our society today with the growth of social media use. Children and adults alike are forced to think that doing what other people are doing, even if it is dangerous, will benefit them in some way. Although escaping the influence from the people in one’s peer group may seem difficult, there are always sources that provide helpful tips in dealing with it. The first website I looked at was aimed at kids. It gave different tips on how to resist peer pressure. A couple of the tops included ask “what could we do instead?” and walk away. I think these are great tips for children. Being able to redirect the situation is a great skill for young people and allows them to take control of a situation they might not have If this strategy does not work out, the next strategy could include simply walking away. Walking away takes yourself out of the negative situation and is a great life choice.

The next website I visited included tips for female athletes to resist peer pressure. The site gave 5 stops to resisting peer pressure. These steps were:

Step one: awareness

Step two: the simple question

Step three: gather support

Step four: own it every day

Step five: inner amour

Each step entailed different key ideas to resisting peer pressure. Step one focused on the feelings of the athlete. It emphasizes being aware of how on Is feeling and how much they care. Step two requires the athlete to ask the simple questions. These questions include “is this in my best interest?” Or “whose happiness do I care about?” The third step encourages the athlete t find teammates or other female athletes to surround herself with, who have the same interests and goals that she has. This reminds the athlete that she does not have to do anything she does not want to in order to gain friends because she already has her supportive group. The fourth step teaches the athlete to be confident. Even if the athlete is unsure, faking it in front of others who want to force her to do something wrong will ward off these types of people. Finally, if the athlete takes time to reflect on herself daily, as the fifth step suggests, she will no longer second guess herself. Understanding that she is powerful and smart will help her live out her dreams.

The final website I chose gives advice to parents about how to help their children deal with the peer pressure they face at school. This website is important because how individuals deal with peer pressure is usually dependent on what boundaries parents have set up for them, and how they have been raised to handle situations that seem difficult. The first step parents must take to help is simply talking with their student. It is important for parents to remember that when giving a child advice, they must make themselves approachable. They should not want to scare their child but remind them that they are their best friends who look out for their child. Once they create that bridge of communication, the child can open up to them about problems they may face with peer pressure. The second step says for the parent to make a plan with the child. Many children give into peer pressure because they see no other way of getting out of it. By teaching their child something like texting them in code, the parents have given the child the confidence to get out of tough situations. The third step is applying your own positive pressure. Children need encouragement from their parents daily in order to make the right decisions. The fourth step is giving the child information he or she needs. Children do not know everything, so it is important for parents to teach the children about the dangers of the world. It is not to scare them, but educating the child is better than leaving them in the dark because the parents are too afraid to expose them. The next step is setting rules. It may seem hard to set harsh rules, but it is crucial for kids to know their boundaries. Showing that you are confident in your child to make right decisions encourages them to continue making those good decisions. Finally, opening up with your children about struggles you have faced will help the child know that it is possible to make good decisions and be happy.

Kids – https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/5-steps-resist-peer-pressure/

Female athletes- https://www.positiveperformancetraining.com/blog/female-athletes-and-peer-pressure

Parents handling children – https://www.accreditedschoolsonline.org/resources/peer-pressure/

--Original published at HuntersCollegeBlog

https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/peer-pressure.html

https://www.loveandlogic.com/articles-advice/helping-kids-resist-peer-pressure

https://www.positiveperformancetraining.com/blog/female-athletes-and-peer-pressure

The first website that I looked at had advice on how teens should go about resisting and dealing with peer pressure. The website talked about who peers are, and how they can influence you. It explained how the idea that not all peer influence is bad, since peers can serve as friendships, advice givers, and so forth. When negative peer pressure arises,  the tips that this website gave on how to deal with peer pressure are as followed: listen to yourself- if something seems off, it probably is, plan out how you’ll react to peer pressure before it happens, have some sort of excuse to leave a pressured situation, make it known that it’s okay to say no, be with people that you know won’t pressure you into doing something you don’t want to do, aka people that agree with you and will stand up for you, and if you don’t want to do something, say your parents would not want you to do this. Our psych textbook talk about how people normally do what the other people around them are doing (often referred to as the chameleon effect). This automatic mimicry allows people to empathize with others. This can be considered a type of conformity. Asch found that people are more likely to conform to something if you’re in a group of people who are all doing the same thing, or if we are made to feel like we’re wrong. I think these methods of resisting peer pressure are beneficial, because it’s important to stand your ground, and have that sense of individualism, which is focusing on yourself, but sometimes you will be faced with a group of people that don’t agree with you. In those cases, you have to make sure you stand your ground, and even if you don’t agree with what’s happening, you have to be able to accept their opinions, also known as the informational social influence. These tips can be used especially with teens, because they can be pressured into doing things they don’t want to do, don’t think is right, or even things that are illegal, so I feel that these tips will help you in a pressured situation, especially if other people in the group are using the informational social influence.

The next website talks about how parents can help their kids resist peer pressure. Their strategies are as followed: teach your kids what decisions lead to negative consequences, as parents, don’t fight with your kids about who their friends are, give your kids positive encouragement about making smart choices, and allow your kids to blame you if they don’t want to do something (i.e., my mom would not want me to do that). I think that these tips can be successful, because the parent is able to explain to the kids what the consequences will be if they make bad decisions, which I know for me, if I knew the consequences for something weren’t in my favor, I wouldn’t do something. If your child is made aware and has known that bad behaviors cause negative consequences, they’ll be able to use social facilitation, where the audience (group in this situation) will make them do things better, and the drive theory, which says that this takes place when behaviors are mastered. If your child has mastered the art of saying no to something, then in peer pressure situations, they won’t have a problem with saying no.

The last website talked about how a female athlete was a star basketball player, but then her performance started getting worse because the other girls on the team were jealous of her skill and success, so she would pass to them, or purposefully get less points, and make her own game suffer, just so she would feel liked by the team. In order to fight back against this type of peer pressure, here were the steps given: know that it’s okay to feel how you feel, knowing the right question to ask yourself (i.e. do I really care more about other people’s happiness or my own?), find support from friends, family, etc., remind yourself daily your reasons of resisting peer pressure, and build yourself up. I think these tips can lead to success when dealing with peer pressure, because it allows you to validate your feelings during a situation, and it lets you know that it is okay to not feel the same was as others. Informational social influence can also be used here because   you have to accept others opinions as well as your own. These tips can also lead to success because you’ll be able to find support in friends and family, and with this, you’re not doing what other people around you are doing, rather you’re doing what you feel they want you to do. So, if you believe in yourself and tell yourself why you are resisting the peer pressure, you’ll be more successful in situations where you are faced with it.

--Original published at Marisa Psych Blog

Many people are victims of peer pressure everyday. This seems to be a climbing issue in todays society, sen at all ages or life. Peer pressure is given into to what others do and how they act, just to feel as sense of belonging. Following with what the majority is doing, just to not be left behind. It is almost impossible to escape peer pressure, or so it feels as it is right infront of you, tempting to control how and what you do. it is a social  influence and is connected to acceptance. Peer pressure is not just confined to the idea of doing things you wouldn’t do, it carries many factors and different group this issue can effect.

Teenagers are one of the biggest group that peer prose is thought to effect. They are the age that most things begin and change and settle in your life, going from a child to a young adult. While you are trying to find who you really are, there will be things that you will or will not do. Not everyone follows the same life rules, and this introduces peer pressure. Doing new things and trying what works and doesn’t work for your life. Teenagers are influenced heavily by the outside world. Social factors like clothing and hair styles, music , social media, and various other thing cloud and form a persons judgment and. personal feelings toward life and how they want or feel as if they should be living it. It is important for teens to find a balance, between outside life like school and friends in addition to their home life. Depending on whether or not you give into peer pressure or how much you do, you can potentially lose who you were before and turn into something you are not. In school and other teenage environments, this is where temptation to try new things and test your limits will arise. Understanding how to access a situation and the potential decisions you can make and how it will affect you both short and long term is very important. Taking risks every once is=n awhile is not bad, but if you are doing various things that you wouldn’t before, just because of outside influence, this is peer pressure. Being self confident in yourself an the life you have is very important. Showing yourself self love and understanding that you do not have to change to be accepted. Saying no is easier said than done. It takes will power and strength to say no to something, especially if your friends or peers would like you to branch out. Peer pressure is a fact of your personal outer circle and environment, and you are in control of your decisions and actions. conforming inot something you are not is a greats issue and result of peer pressure. Feeling a sense of social solidarity and union to one another makes you feel normal as well as powerful. Looking for approval and seeking things from a different lifestyle are all connected to the idea of pressure on teens.

College students are another huge group that is subjected to possibility of peer pressure. This is one of the biggest populations in the world. At this age you are also trying to find who you are, becoming an adult and living without parent rules and influence. This allows you to wonder and try new things you may not have before during your teen or childhood years. You are entering a new realm or world, nothing that you have experienced before. living amongst other young adults your age, forming different relationships and acting in ways you see others around you. Making your own decisions and being responsible for yourself with nobody else worrying if you are okay or not is the biggest change from coming from high school years and staying at home to living on a college campus. One of the biggest things a college student can learn is to assess a situation quickly and decide if its a no go or if it is a smart idea for you to stay and partake in the activities happening around you. Saying no to your peers can be very challenging. Feeling as if you will be judged for not participating in what your friends are doing can really influence soemones decisions. The pressure to fit in and conform to the same actions and behaviors surrounding ones self is very challenging to dismiss. Believing in yourself and possessing self esteem and confidence is also important to have during your college years. A lot of college kids test the limits. Trying different drugs, drinking alcohol and going out to parties with the rest of your campus can be quite tempting. Doing what others do around you and conforming to the “norms” college has set is pressure, without it even being said. Social influence is the biggest factor of potentially feeling peer pressured into something. Facing college shows you so many new things it can be overwhelming. Being away from home and not having parental influence on the decisions you ae able to make for yourself, give you a new found sense of power. Having to make designs for yourself and not having to ask for permission is a great deal to young adults. Freedom to a child is important yet very different from going from highschool and living at home with rules to going to college with absolutely no rules and you are responsible for yourself, how you act, and your life success. Boundaries are still there, yet a finer line. Finding a group of friends that lives closely or similar to the way you do or would like to lessons the potential peer pressure that you may succumb to.

One last group of individual that we do not usually think of undergoing or being tempted my peer pressure is parents. Parents face pressure everyday. A mother and father are judged greatly on ho their child behaves and does in the community. Being a successful child shows a parents success in how they raised you. Parenting skills and styles can be observed through the life of their child or children. The decisions that your child makes is a reflection of their parents and how they are taught. The amount you are involved in your childs life is also a huge factor. Parents are not just influenced by the community of other groups of parents, but even from their own children. Children have a hold on their parents as well. They are always wanting and hoping to please their children. Children look for their parents approval, but parents look for the same from their kids. Pleasing and satisfying them, making them happy and giving them whether need to succeed in life is a lot of pressure. Parents learn through experience. Nobody learns how to be a great parent over night. The outside of the community an the overall  society give you and guide you with direction. Peer pressure effects a variety of social groups.

Sources

Alexandra, Shawn Francine. “Peer Pressure: 9 Ways You Can Avoid as a Student.” College Life, College Life, 28 Dec. 2017, collegelife.nl/peer-pressure/.

http://blogs.uwhealth.org/kids/2017/05/parent-peer-pressure/

https://raisingchildren.net.au/teens/behaviour/peers-friends-trends/peer-influence

--Original published at Carly's College Blog

Peer pressure is the direct influence on people by peers. The person experiencing peer pressure may be strongly encouraged to do certain thins or to act a certain way in order to “fit in” or “be cool.” For example: when at a party, I may choose not to drink. If all my friends are drinking they might keep asking me to drink with them or continuously try and hand me a drink. This could lead me to conformity, which is adjusting my behavior to coincide with group standards. Here, I reviewed 3 websites providing advice on how to resist it.

The first website I chose to look at is aimed towards college students. It is an article published by Stanford University’s college success blog. It offers 5 tips: choose your friends wisely, don’t depend on one friend group, seek advice from others, engage in confidence-boosting activities, and lastly, accept occasional loneliness. When first coming to college, nobody knows each other so the first priority for most people is to socialize. I know that when I first got here, I wasn’t evaluating each person in my head as to whether or not they were good friends because I didn’t know them well enough yet. This goes along with not relying on one friend group. I am friends with about 3 friend groups on campus. They each engage in different activities, some party and some don’t, but the perk to this is that I can still be friends with everyone and not be “tied” to just one set of people. I like the idea of getting involved in confidence-boosting activities. I think this would be a successful tip because the more comfortable and confident someone is with themselves, the more confident they will feel turning down a situation or offer they do not want.  I do not think accepting occasional loneliness will be a more successful tip because in an environment full of peers and things to do, who wants to be alone? I think a lot of people would rather spend time with others than be alone.

The second website I chose to look at is aimed towards college athletes. It was published on university survival. It tells a story about a student who was pressured into drinking by his teammates, and he was the only who got caught. He lost his entire football career and never earned a degree. While this story may be a worst case scenario, team peer pressure is still very real. This website offers 4 tips: Earn respect from your teammates through hard work, allow your personal values to guide you, make friends outside of the team too, and join other groups on campus. I think these are all effective tips. By staying true to yourself and having more friends off the team, it allows for you to feel more confident in decision making.

The last website I looked at took a different approach. it is advice offered to managers whos employees are experiencing peer pressure. The number one point the article makes is for the manager to assert him/her self and recognize the pressure their employees are placing on each other. It offers for managers to host a meeting with the pressured employees and assure them that they can reach out without fear of repercussions, and encourage them to say no if they disagree with their group. It states that a manager should strive to create a positive and equal environment. I agree that these are great ways to improve the relationships in an office or organization.

Resources:

https://collegepuzzle.stanford.edu/5-tips-to-deal-with-peer-pressure-in-college/

https://www.universitysurvival.com/student-topics/avoiding-pressure-from-teammates/

https://www.mtdtraining.com/blog/handle-peer-pressure-office.htm

--Original published at Garrettscollegeblog

Dealing with peer pressure seems difficult in every situation. The idea of fitting in takes precedence in so many people’s mind they sometimes ignore their existing morals. My hardest times dealing with peer pressure came in high school, college, and the athletics I partake in. I never found a concrete way to handle peer pressure as the peers around me differ in every situation. This blog with dive into different sources that think they have figured out the best ways to handle peer pressure from the perspectives of high school students, college students, and athletes.

Mazzittiandsullivan.com posted an article that pinpoints specific tactics to dealing with peer pressure in college. Of the four suggestions provided, the one that seemed the most prolific to me was seek healthy relationships. It mentions the idea of surrounding yourself with a group that engages in positive activities. Dealing with peer pressure is almost unavoidable so this approach attempts to put a student in a situation that when peer pressure does arise, it is for positive things. Obviously this approach is easier said than done, but college does promote a fresh start for many incoming students that do not know anyone and are searching for friends.

High school differs from college a little as avoiding things proves a little harder. Students spend around eight hours per day in school where word spreads so fast about what other students did that made them “cool.” That remains the talk of the school for days or even weeks at a time. Accreditedschoolsonline.org offers many solutions but the best comes about in one they call “get out of the situation.” When a group of people is planning to do immoral or even life threatening things, leave. When in the presence of a group it becomes easier to conform; so the longer the student remains with the group, the harder it will become to say no and conforming feels so much easier.

Athletes experience a lot of peer pressure that if one partakes in it. The obvious situations like engaging in drugs and alcohol, which can result in things like loss of scholarship or getting kicked off of the team, really stick out in this scenario. Even small events like succumbing to peer pressure to go out and stay out late the night before a game act as poor decisions for an athlete and positiveperformancetraining.com provides steps to deal with this peer pressure. The most influential step states that the athlete should ask himself or herself before doing the act, “will this help me and will I look back and think this was a good idea.” When asking this the athlete can decide way before a group or peers become involved to say no and avoid the situation as a whole. Similar to the high school example above, this tip can alleviate the stress to conform when in front of groups because the question can allow the person to leave prior to group intervention in the peer pressure.

The ideas above will differ in effectiveness from person to person as many people adapt to groups in different ways. Some experience social interference where a group hinders the person and makes conformity easier. For some, however, groups aid the person and make the situation easier to navigate; that is called social facilitation.

https://www.positiveperformancetraining.com/blog/female-athletes-and-peer-pressure

https://www.accreditedschoolsonline.org/resources/peer-pressure/

https://www.mazzittiandsullivan.com/preparing-student-resist-peer-pressure-college/

--Original published at Cecilia's Thoughts

Peer pressure is such a prominent issue in today’s society, especially with children at school and in a social setting. Pop culture today idolizes doing drugs and drinking alcohol which ultimately increases the amount of peer pressure that people experience. Different groups all experience peer pressure. I chose to research children, college students, and athletes. Though college students and athletes experience similar peer pressures, dealing with being pressured to drink alcohol underaged as well as take/do illegal drugs the intensity of these peer pressures vary.

Peer pressure often works because it is hard to make the right decision without thinking about it in advance. In order to help a child to deal with peer pressure it is important to talk with them about peer pressure in general is important and can be helpful when dealing with it. This article discussed five things to teach your child to deal with peer pressure. The first step is to take a deep breath, this is important for your child to know because it is okay to take a minute before making a decision about the suggestion that was made. The second step is finding the right words to say to the person making the suggestion. This is important because it is directly saying “This is not safe” or “This is not right”, this is naming the action. The third step is thinking it through, it is important to ask the child to think the situation through fully and decide the repercussions for everyone involved in the decision they may make. The fourth step is asking what they could do instead. Listing reasons not to do it may be bad because this can be counteracted with reasons that they are not bad but suggesting another activity to do instead can be beneficial. The fifth and final step is learning to walk away. If the other methods of peer pressure do not work and the child’s friends still persists then they must learn to just walk away. This website provides examples that can be helpful when dealing with peer pressure as a child. Providing ways to deal with it in the case of the other ways do not work is very important because it is useful to have multiple strategies to stay away from peer pressure.

Peer pressure for college students begins focusing on drinking and drug usage more than anything else. Once you enter college it is an unspoken, but well-advertised expectation for college students to go out with their friends and party while drinking underage and partaking in illegal drug use. This means it is important for college students to learn ways to combat caving into peer pressure. It is also harder to avoid peer pressure because you are in college without parents or other adults there to remind you about correct decisions. A good way to avoid peer pressure in college is to find a group of friends who have similar interests and goals. It can also be beneficial to join a sports team or clubs; this group of people will assist in keeping a college student away from illegal activities and substances and peer pressure. If you find yourself in a situation whether it is being pressured to drink alcohol, do drugs, or complete sexual activities when you do not want to, it is important to learn to say no and walk away. This article was insightful but was not very extenuous. This article would be less likely to help cut down on peer pressure then the first article because it lacks alternative methods of denying peer pressure.

There is a heightened amount of peer pressure in athletes, especially in men. There is a high expectation for athletes in the classroom, on the field, and at home and they must balance school work, at home responsibilities, as well as practice and games all while upholding a social life. With all of this stress it is easy for the child to become peer pressured to use alcohol and drugs as an outlet to escape this stress. It is common for sports teams to celebrate their success or deal with their loss using alcohol and drugs, so as a parent of an athlete it is important to talk to your child about these possible problems and make it very clear that as a child, you do have a choice on whether to say yes or no. It is also helpful to become as involved as possible so as a parent you are able to see first-hand whether or not there is negative peer pressure on the team. It is also important to look at the team’s coach, some look the other way, others promote the use of alcohol, and in rare cases they may supply it. If you are aware of this, it is important to contact the school so they can proceed accordingly. This article was helpful in addressing peer pressure among college students, but like the previous article it does not offer alternative methods of dealing with peer pressure.

Resisting peer pressure for children:

https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/5-steps-resist-peer-pressure/

Resisting peer pressure for college students

https://www.bestcollegereviews.org/dealing-peer-pressure-college/

Resisting peer pressure for athletes:

https://www.livingfithealthyandhappy.com/2010/03/negative-peer-pressure-among-teen-athletes.html

--Original published at Caroline's Blog

Peer pressure is something that people of all ages have to deal with almost every day, whether it be in the classroom, workplace, or everyday life. Sometimes, the easiest way to avoid peer pressure is to remain neutral and do what you believe is the best decision, but this can become very difficult and almost impossible.

One source from Monmouth University’s “The Outlook” discusses the idea of peer pressure from the perspective of a college student. This perspective is very interesting as it relates to the lives of people who are also struggling through the intensity of college. The article relates peer pressure back to the movie Mean Girlsand how it demonstrates that giving into peer pressure would not be beneficial for anyone. It mentions that as a college student, you should establish a strong supportive friend group that does not guilt you into doing things you are uncomfortable with. It also discusses not needing to seek approval from others to be satisfied with yourself. I do believe that these plans would be very beneficial for the college student. Seeking approval will do nothing but make you more nervous about yourself and your personality, so staying true to yourself will be very beneficial.

Another source focuses on handling the peer pressure of children from the perspective of a parent. The article from greatschools.org gives parents five steps to share with their children who are dealing with pressure from friends. This website explains that parents should tell their children to take a breath first, find the words, think it through, ask, “what could we do instead?”, and to walk away. This process allows children to process the situation, stay calm, think about the right and wrong thing to do, question alternative options, and to stand strong and walk away rather than be intimidated. The only issue that I see arising from this process of handling peer pressure is not confronting the source of the peer pressure and telling them that this is not right or helpful for their situation.

Finally, this last source focuses on the teenager’s perspective, and the website, yourlifecounts.org discusses twenty ways that their target audience, readers of Teen Magazine, can avoid peer pressure. A couple of ideas that stood out to me were avoiding stressful situations in the first place, consider what would happen if you gave in to the situation, and evaluate your friendships. Although the last tip sounds helpful, the other two do not seem as if they would lead to positive results. Avoidance does and will not resolve any issues, instead it would build upon them until they explode and cause more issues. Considering giving into the situation would make you the weaker or lesser person. For a person who is already vulnerable simply for being a teenager, avoiding situations or making the wrong decision and giving into peer pressure will not allow you to have a smooth ride throughout the bumpy road that is high school. Peer pressure is a dangerous thing, and staying true to yourself and making the right decision will help you immensely in the long run.

https://yourlifecounts.org/learning-center/peer-pressure/20-ways-to-avoid-peer-pressure/

https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/5-steps-resist-peer-pressure/

https://outlook.monmouth.edu/opinion/32-volume-84-fall-2012-spring-2013/430-handling-peer-pressure-in-college?highlight=WyJwZWVyIiwicGVlcidzIiwicHJlc3N1cmUiLCJpbiIsIidpbiIsImluJyIsImNvbGxlZ2UiLCJjb2xsZWdlJ3MiLCInY29sbGVnZSIsInBlZXIgcHJlc3N1cmUiLCJwZWVyIHByZXNzdXJlIGluIiwicHJlc3N1cmUgaW4iLCJwcmVzc3VyZSBpbiBjb2xsZWdlIiwiaW4gY29sbGVnZSJd

--Original published at Marlee's Psych 105 Blog

In today’s world, it is nearly impossible to escape peer pressure. It is not tied to race, gender, or age. It is all encompassing and something everyone must cope with on a daily basis. It can affect anyone from teens to college students, even parents. Peer pressure or peer influence is “when you choose to do something you wouldn’t otherwise do, because you want to feel accepted and valued by your friends” (Peer Pressure and Influence Teenagers). This idea can also be referred to as normative social influence. Normative social influence results from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval. Peer influence doesn’t always have to involve doing something you don’t want to.

When we hear the word peer pressure we instantly assume it’s a bad situation, but it’s not always the case, peer influence can also be a positive thing. Someone could be peer pressured into listening to different music or even into becoming more assertive. These are not bad things, but they might be out of character for the individual. Being said, there are also bad types of peer pressure. Teens and college students can be pressure into trying drugs or drinking. Most people will give in to the pressure because they want to conform to the group or be “cool”. Conformity occurs when we adjust our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard. This sense of conformity is very present in teens and young adults. Today’s world revolves around appearances. Everyone sees the fake wall we put up on social media. We are constantly trying to mimic other, whether it be their appearance or their lifestyle, but sadly we are trying to reach a fake standard. This constant desire to reach approval can be seen in some age groups more than others.

Upon arrival to college you are instantly faced with so many new things. You are away from you parents for the first time, meeting new people and making new friends, but most importantly you are making decisions as an adult. In college your parents are no longer there to baby you and make sure you are on the right track; the cards are in your hands now. With this new sense of freedom comes a lot of students wanting to push their boundaries and try new things while also making an image for themselves. While it will be hard to go through your day without being peer pressured at some point, it is important to know ways to fight it. One way to cope with peer pressure is finding a group of friends who share the same interests as you; people you know who will not force you to do things you do not want to do. Another approach you could take could be just a simple “thanks but no thanks” response. Sometimes all it takes is just a clear no to tell the person you are not interested. These are both effective ways to avoid and address the situation directly.

Another population which faces peer pressure are teens. Teens are undergoing one of the biggest changes; going from being a child to a young adult. At this stage in life teens are trying to find themselves. This involves trying new things and even taking risks here-and-there. The teenage years are heavily influenced by pop culture: music, clothes, makeup, hairstyles. Everyone wants to do what their friends are doing even if it’s not what they would typically do. It’s all about finding a balance and making sure you do not loose sense of who you really are. It is important to talk to your parents during this time. Ask your parents for ways to say no. You might need these in certain situations when you are feeling influenced to do something you do not want to. It is also important to have a good self-esteem. This can allow you to feel confident in your decisions and not feel trapped when faced with peer pressure. Now it’s very easy in theory to say you need to have good self-esteem and talk to your parents, but in reality, we all have things we wish we could change about ourselves as well as situations we aren’t comfortable talking to our parents about. These are things which will be helpful if you can practice them.

Finally, one group we don’t think about when we hear the word peer pressure are parents. Being a parent, you are constantly being judged and criticized how you raise your child. As a parent you are not only making decisions for yourself, but also your child. For example, your child comes home from school one day begging you for the new iPhone which just came out because they still have the iPhone 5. He says his friends have been making fun of him for having such and old phone, but in reality, you don’t have the money to purchase the phone.  You decide to pick up extra shifts, so you can make the money to buy the phone as a surprise, but because of this you’re not home as much and cannot attend any of the school functions you normally would have. So, the other parents begin to question your parenting skills. They tell you, you need to be more involved in your child’s life. It all turns into a vicious cycle. The peer pressure in this situation is coming from two angles: the peer pressure on your child as well as the peer pressure from other parents. In order to deal with this, it is important to make compromises as well as look inward at the situation. Both of these are effective depending upon the situation you’re dealing with and if you want to benefit your child or yourself.

Website 1 (Teens): https://raisingchildren.net.au/teens/behaviour/peers-friends-trends/peer-influence

Website 2 (Parents): http://blogs.uwhealth.org/kids/2017/05/parent-peer-pressure/

Website 3 (College Students): https://www.bestcollegereviews.org/dealing-peer-pressure-college/

--Original published at Manami PSY105blog

Some people suffer from peer pressure which people feel to have to follow majority regardless of whether they do right things or not. It is difficult to resist peer pressure. People have a fear that may be excluded There are some methods to deal with peer pressure.

adolescents and young adults

According to the article, How to Resist Peer Pressure, Paul Chernyak says they can help adolescents and young adults to resist peer pressure to choose healthy options, to select good friends and to identify yourself. It is difficult to reject a friend’s recommendation such as alcohol and drugs. It is because people prefer conformity in a group. There is the result in the experiment of Solomon Asch people tend to answer same with the other although the other’s answer is obviously wrong. The experiment also showed that people answer differently when they are not in a group. In this case, it will be an effective way to respect individual decision to ask friends to have time to think of their demands, find an excuse such as over-protect of parents, give friends better or another idea. Because, if people can contact with one of their group’s members individually instead of making a decision in a group, it would be much easier. In addition, proposing a better idea will be helpful to enjoy to have friendship in a group. For example, you can bring a non-alcohol beverage to a party if you do not want to drink. Moreover, it is important to question whether your friends influence positively. Firstly, it is never good to hang out with friends who make you feel bad because it is stressful. People will be happier by having a new friend who gives you positive influences. For example, the author says social roles such as joining group activities in school help people to avoid to get in trouble. Besides these, it is important to identify your values, goals and what you like to be. Life decisions based on personality and goals to accomplish may be beneficial excuse to resist negative peer pressure. Everyone has differences. People need to know their what they feel comfortable to do and have a right to say no to avoid from other’s judgment such as stereotype and prejudice.

Workers

In the article, Three Tips for Resisting Peer Pressure at Work, Ryan W. Hirsch suggests that suggesting opinions directly, preventing social loafing and being consistent can be good strategies to deal with peer pressure at a workplace. In detail, the author recommends readers to indicate what you think directly. For example, people should suggest disliking sushi when coworkers ask you to go dinner instead of using different reasons so that you can prevent next invitation to go to sushi restaurants. Next, people should not break a role in terms of works just because others break a role. Social loafing is that people are likely to lose responsibility and motivations to complete given tasks in the group. Social loafing at a workplace may create unfair treatment and negative consequences. Therefore, workers need to

set a clear goal and think of themselves as individuals in the group. Consistent communication is also helpful to make a decision without peer pressures.

Female athletes

Lindy Wilson, the author of the article, Female Athletes and Peer Pressure, says female athletes are more likely to lose a chance to succeed and keep harmony in girl’s group not to be excluded and have to support physical handicap by other strengths. Especially, female athletes sometimes are required to choose either their happiness in group or own success. There are five processes to resist peer pressure: awareness, the simple question, gather support, own in every day and inner armor in the article. Firstly, being aware of your social role which is changing frequently and putting yourself in comfortable places can be helpful. If you can be in a smaller group, it would be easier to say your idea to get conformity without normative influence which people do not want to break a harmony. Finding another supporter will help you in several situations to achieve a highly future goal. It can change entire group’s motivation to focus on own task because people tend to be active when they have a clear goal and specific roles. The others may get inspired from you and the group identification can increase.

#Spotlight #Social

Citation:

Chernyak, P. (2018, March). How to Resist Peer Pressure. Retrieved from https://www.wikihow.com/Resist-Peer-Pressure

Hirsch, W. R. (2014, October 17). Three Tips for Resisting Peer Pressure at Work. Retrieved from https://thecpt.org/2014/10/17/three-tips-for-resisting-peer-pressure-at-work/

Wilson, L. (n.d.). Female athletes and peer pressure. Retrieved from https://www.positiveperformancetraining.com/blog/female-athletes-and-peer-pressure

--Original published at Rachelsblog

Peer pressure is something that is not easily avoidable and is usually present in every social situation. Peer pressure is the influence from members of one’s social group. Everyone is guilty of falling into peer pressure, especially college students, parents, and athletes. Although, peer pressure is hard to avoid, there are tips on how to help it.

College students are one of the biggest population of people who fall to peer pressure. They are entering a world with no adults telling them what to do or to watch their every move. They are on their own making their own decisions. An article on College Life gives a ton of tips. One tip to college students on avoiding peer pressure is knowing when to say no. Saying no can be hard but it is important to know when you have to draw the line and say it. Building self-confidence is something that can lead you to being able to saying no easier. Another tip is to follow your heart but to take your brain with. This means, do what your heart wants you to do, but use your brain to make sure it is a smart thing to do. In the textbook it mentions “attitude affects actions”, which basically explains how people react based on their attitude to the situation and not thinking of the consequences of their actions. If it is what you want and is smart, then do it. If it is what you want but is not smart, don’t do it. Another tip is make sure you do something because you feel it is right, not because someone is telling you to. A lot of college kids look to go out and drink on the weekends and this is not right, but in college that can be the atmosphere that kids tend to get sucked into due to peer pressure. College kids also conform to the normative social influence of college, which is not always the right thing to do. Although, if a kid goes out to a party and everyone is drinking, they may feel pressured into doing it because it is the social norm at the given moment and they don’t want to be looked at as different. Knowing right from wrong is a big key to avoiding peer pressure. I think all of these tips are very helpful and I tend to use them in my daily life since I am also a college student.

Another population of people that face peer pressure are parents and their kids. Parents are more of the group who have to teach their kids how to avoid peer pressure. It is important for a parent to teach their kid young to avoid peer pressure so when they get older they can do it more easily. In an article on The National, there are a lot of ways parents can teach their kids how to avoid peer pressure. One tip is to promote positive friendships and to meet their friends and really get to know them. If your child has friends you do not know, you do not know what they are doing or if they are good friends for your child to be hanging out with. Another one is to have an open relationship with your child, so that way when they are being peer pressured, they can come to their parents without hesitation and know that they will be helped. Parents are also told to teach their kids how to say no and mean it so when they get asked something that they don’t want, they can be confident in saying no. It is also very important to teach your child that they are responsible for their actions, and while doing something wrong in the moment while falling to peer pressure may seem “cool” or “fun” to their friends, the consequences will not be. I think all of these tips are very helpful to parents to help teach their child to avoid peer pressure and I think it would be very effective.

One last big group that falls to peer pressure is athletes. Athletes tend to want to go out with their teammates to social events with other teams in their college or at their high school. In an article on Teen Drug Abuse, it has tips on how athletes can avoid peer pressure. One thing that can stop athletes from falling to peer pressure in social settings where there may be drugs or alcohol, they can offer to be the designated driver for those who are consuming the alcohol, that way they do not feel pressured to drink because they are driving. Another tip is to be firm when saying no, or refer to the fact that you are an athlete and have a lot to lose if you were to make a mistake under peer pressure. Being an athlete comes with a lot of responsibilities and they can use their title of “athlete” to confirm their answer of no when being peer pressured. Also, having the whole team say no makes them feel as if they are not the only one saying no, the athlete and their team are sticking together to not fall to peer pressure. I think this would be very effective and would help the athlete out of peer pressured situations.

Works Cited:

Alexandra, Shawn Francine. “Peer Pressure: 9 Ways You Can Avoid as a Student.” College Life, College Life, 28 Dec. 2017, collegelife.nl/peer-pressure/.

Lewis, Rachel. “How Parents Can Spot and Deal with Negative Peer Pressure.” The National, The National, 3 Jan. 2012, http://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/family/how-parents-can-spot-and-deal-with-negative-peer-pressure-1.410899.

“6 Tactful Tips for Resisting Peer Pressure To Use Drugs and Alcohol.” NIDA for Teens, teens.drugabuse.gov/blog/post/6-tactful-tips-resisting-peer-pressure-to-use-drugs-and-alcohol.