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Peer Pressure and Adolescence
Running Head: PEER PRESSURE AND ADOLESCENCE
Peer Pressure and Adolescence
Christine Sweger
COUN 517, Dr. Belangee
November 8, 2005
Abstract
Peer pressure is one of the most omnipresent issues confronting both adolescents and their school counselors. As a part of adolescent development, peer pressure is simply part of the process of developing a sense of autonomy. Peer pressure can function in a myriad of powerful ways. Yet during adolescence peers do not possess all the power and influence in a teenager’s life. Studies have shown that parents’ values, especially long-term moral values, remain strong influences. When peer pressure does intervene in issues such as drug abuse, body image, sexual activity, and academic performance peer pressure was found to be normative and not coercive. It was also found that peer pressure can also lead to positive mediating effects. In fact, the interventions which are recommended to prevent the negative consequences of peer pressure overwhelmingly support school counselors in capitalizing on the positive influences peers offer. Nevertheless, whatever preventive measures are taken, peer pressure is and will remain one of the most pressing issues faced by adolescents.
Peer Pressure and Adolescence
We all remember some point in our lives when our friends’ opinions meant more to us than anything. Sometimes the desire to fit in was so strong we sometimes even found ourselves doing things we may not have been comfortable doing. As much as peer pressure made us uneasy it generates even greater fear in the hearts of parents and educators alike. Due to theseprofound concerns and the perceived ubiquity of peer pressure, psychologists, sociologists, and educators have soughtnot only to understand what peer pressure is and how peer pressure functions, but alsoto determine the extent of its influence on adolescent behavior. Research has supplied many answers to these questions. We know parental influence can be just as powerful as peer influence in an adolescent’s life. We also know peer pressure has a variable influence over many aspects of an adolescent’s life including deviant behaviors like drug abuse, body image, early sexual initiation, and academic performance.We even know peer pressure functions differently according to a teenager’s ethnicity.Yet maybe the most important thing we know is thatin order to mediate the negative influence of peer pressure, school counselors should endeavor to apply their understanding of this issue by implementing interventions that utilize positive peer groups and provide emotional support.
Peer Pressure as part of Human Development
Peer pressure is such a nebulous term that it cannot possibly encompass the complexity and scope of this central developmental issue of adolescence. Yet peer pressure can be fundamentally characterized as a developmental phenomenon rooted in the struggle for adolescent autonomy. Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development stressed the power of peers in the adolescent striving for autonomy when he proposed that between the ages 12 to 18, “young people are engaged in establishing their basic social and occupational identities with the help of their society of peers” (as cited in Lee, 2002, p. 19). Accordingly, Fuligni and Eccles (2001) describe the struggle towards autonomy as“a critical task” of adolescence because itasks teenagers to redefine their “relationships with their parents and their peers” (p. 35). For Steinberg (2002),however, this time is best described as a time of transition—teenagers progresscloser to autonomyby gradually moving awayfrom parentsand towards the peer group (p. 296).Essentially then it is the peer group that occupies thecritical role in the transition to autonomy. Peers not only act as the primary agent of identity formation, but they also become the vehicle through which the young person negotiates a place for himself in this world. Thereforethe power of peer pressure is ultimately at its most influential and potentially most dangerous level during adolescence.
Peer pressure poses such a threat because adolescence is also a time when teenagers begin to test their more sophisticated but still developing decision-making abilities (Steinberg, 2002, p. 297). Resisting peer pressure can be one of the most challenging tests faced by teenagers; and part of what makes this issue so trying is the struggle to negotiate a balance between parental and peer influence. It is easy to make a decision when parents and friends agree, but what does the teenager do when these two powerful forces become polarized? Lee (2002) suggested adolescents begin to adjust to this dichotomy by relying more heavily on their peers in the decision-making process. In particular, Lee (2002)emphasized the shaping power of peers stating: “As children grow into adolescence, the influence of peers on schoolwork, future careers, and socialization beyond the family surroundings grow also (p. 19).Peer pressure consequently has the power to influence and even direct the decisions made by teens. Yet this power is not absolute and there are gradations of influence.
Peer Pressure and Susceptibility
One of the issues researchers studying peer pressure find most compelling is the question of susceptibility. What type of adolescent is the most at risk to succumb to peer pressure? What qualities do adolescents need to possess in order to resist the pressure to conform?Studies have shown that a host of factors play into an adolescent’s susceptibility to peer pressure, including everything from the characteristics of the peer group to level of self-esteem. Jaccard, Blanton, and Dodge (2005) argued“one of the most powerful and consistent predictors of adolescent risk behavior is whether an individual has friends who also engage in that behavior” (p. 135).So, in other words, peer pressure is potentially at its most potent when the adolescent’s peer group and friends are all participating in a particular behavior. Swadiand Zeitlin (1988)in an earlier study introduced additional risk factors for greater susceptibility to peer pressure including: low self-esteem, feeling alienated, inadequate intrapersonal skills, poor communication skills, and inferior judgment skills (p. 156).Consequently adolescents who are deemed to be the most susceptible to peer pressure are those who not only lack self-esteem and social skills, but also those who surround themselves with a peer group that engages in deviant behavior.
Fortunately, by understanding and identifying what makes an adolescent the most susceptible to peer pressure, we can also know what makes it easier to resist. Perhaps the most important preventative quality an adolescent can have is a valued sense of self. Indeed, for Cullingford and Morrison (1997), it is “self-confidence and self-esteem [which] provides a positive defence[sic] against negative peer pressure”(p. 66).Beyond maintaining a healthy self-esteem, Cullingford claimed peer pressure can be limited by the “influences of home and family;” adding “where these are weak the peer group will be more significant” (Cullingford & Morrison, 1997, p. 86). Thus the less self-esteem an adolescent possessesand the more an adolescent is oriented toward their peersthe more likely it is she will succumb to peer pressure.An adolescent’s susceptibility to peer pressure is therefore a product of a plethora of factors; the most powerful being their level of self-confidence, the nature of their peer group, and the level of influence of parents.
The Sociology of Peer Pressure
Many attempts have been made to even more broadly define and describe the nature of peer pressure, including a number of sociological models. However the primary theory associated with peer pressure and its function is social learning theory. Its core principle is that “behaviors are learned through the observation of others engaged in a behavior and subsequent modeling of this behavior, as well as the rewards/punishments and favorable/unfavorable definitions associated with the behavior” (Kobus, 2003, 39).Kiesner, Cadinu, Poulin, and Bucci (2002) make similar claims using group identification theory stating: “the strength of the relationship would moderate the effects of peer influence [and the] strength of identification with a group would moderate the effects of the group on the individual” (p. 197). So, according to recent research, the power of peer pressure is determined by how much an adolescent identifies with and feels connected to their chosen peer group.Adolescents engage in behaviors typically associated with peer pressure not because they have been persuaded to do so by their friends, but because they have learned through their friends the advantages and disadvantages of such behaviors. From this perspective peer pressure is really more appropriately termed peer influence because direct coercion is not present.
Peer pressure or influence can also come in different forms. In some cases it can be informational and in others in can exert a more normative influence. Informational peer pressure results when an individual engages in a behavior because the peer group has provided “information” about it. This information can take many shapes like access to materials, teaching each other how to perform a particular behavior, or giving out details. Unger, Rohrbach, Cruz, Baezconde-Garbanati, Ammann Howard, Palmer, and Johnson (2001) found this form of peer pressure is especially applicable to drug use, particularly cigarette smoking (p. 168).Normative peer pressure functions differently, however. According to Unger et al. (2001):
Normative peer influences occur when an adolescent perceives a social norm in the peer group and alters his or her own behavior to conform to this perceived social norm, regardless of whether the perceived social norm is accurate, and regardless of whether the peers actively ‘pressure’adolescents. (p. 168)
Essentially this means that the normative form of peer pressure is the form with which we are more familiar. It is idea that one should participate in a behavior because it is believed that “everyone else is doing it.”Yet, besides informational and normative influences, Lashbrook (2000) has identifiedanother dimension to peer pressure. He postulated that for adolescents in such a position “the threat of negative feelings...is not only the motivational force behind conformity, but also what motivates others to apply pressure in the first place” (p. 754). Peer pressure, therefore, comes in many different forms and finds its strength to persuade from different sources. For some teens, peer norms could be the most powerful influence. For others, the threat of embarrassment and emotional stress leads the teen to conform.
Peer Pressure and Parents
Yet, no matter what form it takes, peers do not hold all of the persuasive power in an adolescent’s life. Parents are still a strong guiding force and thus play a significant role in mediating the effects of peer pressure. For this reason, the primary concern of those studying parental impact on peer pressure is to determine the degree to which parental influence is balanced by peer pressure. Studies in this mold pay close attention to the tug of war between parents and peers. Researchers ask: Which influence is stronger? After a review of the research on parent vs. peer influence, Conger found:
peer influence will supersede parent influence when: (a) there is a strong, homogeneous group that has attitudes and behaviors that are very different from parents; (b) there is not a rewarding parent-child relationship; (c) parental values are uninformed, inconsistent, unrealistic, maladaptive, or hypocritical; (d) the adolescent lacks self-confidence of independence training to resist peer influence. (as cited in Werner-Wilson & Arbel, 2001, p. 266)
So it seems as though most researchers have come to the conclusion that parents and peers have equal influence in an adolescent’s life only in different capacities. Parents, for example, are more influential when it comes to long-term issues like morals and academic achievement whereas peers are more influential about short-term preferences like fashion and music (Biddle, Bank, & Marlin, 1980; Harton & Latané, 1997; Kobus, 2003; SwadiZeitlin, 1988).
Researchers also conducted studies in order to evaluate how parenting styles and the family dynamic either add or subtract to the influence of peer pressure. The majority of studies focusing on family structure have reported that there is “a possible psychosocial link between family structure and adolescent deviance; family structure may affect adolescents’ susceptibility to antisocial peer pressure, which in turn may affect their involvement in deviant or delinquent activity” (Steinberg, 1987, p. 274). It was ultimately found that adolescents living with both parents are less likely to be vulnerable to the influence of peer pressure. Studies also suggest having both biological parents is preferable than having one biological and one stepparent (Steinberg, 1987, p. 275). An adolescent’s susceptibility to peer pressure is thus partly a consequence of his family structure. The more the biological family remains intact, the more likely the adolescent will place their parents’ norms and values on equal if not higher footing than peers’ norms and values. Maintaining a stable and healthy family structure as well as promoting high levels of parental influence on long-term moral matters is therefore one potential strategy for inoculating adolescents against the threat of destructive peer influences, particularly the pressure to do drugs.
Peer Pressure and Specific Issues
One of the primary issues school counselors confront at the secondary level is drug abuse and prevention. Understanding peer pressure, in particular its role in limiting or promoting drug use, is essential. Fortunately a multitude of research studies have been conducted to answer and explain the concerns posed by this complicated issue. In terms of smoking, Kobus (2003) observed that “rather than being the result of direct and coercive pressures, decisions regarding smoking behavior have been found to reflect predetermined choices about fitting in, social approval, popularity and autonomy”(p. 50). This finding implies that peer pressure is in fact a misnomer. Adolescents are not pressured to conform, at least not directly. Instead adolescent engagement in a deviant behavior like drug use is more a result of internal influences and self-imposed pressures. In other words, if a teen starts using drugs, it is because they chose to willingly not because someone made a concerted effort to make them start. Swadi and Zeitlin (1988) offered an alternative interpretation suggesting that peer pressureboth contributes to adolescent drug use and acts as a deterrent from using drugs (p. 156).So peers can have an actively persuasive role; and that role can be both positive and negative. Each of these positions, though conflicting in some respects, suggests that peers do play some part in adolescent drug use. The only difference is in method and degree.
Although there is a lot of interest in the relationship between peer pressure and drug use, there is a growing interest in peer pressure’s role in adolescents’ body image issues and sexual practices. Dohnt and Tiggemann (2005) found there is a “significant relationship between girls’ perception of their peers’ body dissatisfaction and their own level of body dissatisfaction”(p. 113). This form ofpeer pressure ultimately contributes to how adolescents perceive and ultimately accept (or reject) their bodies. Similar results have been found in studies conducted to explain peer pressure’s role in adolescents’ level of sexual activity. Kinsman and Romer (1998) noted:
Young adolescents’ intentions to initiate are strongly bound to their social context with peers playing an important role in creating a sense of normative behavior. The most important component of peer influence is young adolescents’ perceptions about the prevalence of sexual intercourse among peers. This is the strongest normative predictor of intention to initiate sexual intercourse and subsequent behavior. (p. 1191)
Therefore peers not only have the power to influence how an adolescent views her body, but they also can impact her decision to initiate sexual relationships. If a young person perceives her peers as being dissatisfied with their bodies, she is more likely to be dissatisfied. If a young person believes most of her peers are having sex, she is more likely to begin having sex. Both studies suggest, however, that the pressure to engage is these behaviors is the result of more normative influences than coercive ones.
Beyond drugs, sex, and body image, researchers have also explored how peer pressure impacts the academic environment and success of schools. Student achievement is not entirely the product of pure intelligence and talent. The degree to which students are able to succeed academically is also linked to their ability to navigate through the corruptible waters of adolescent peer pressure and the outside influences of the world. In schools, however, peer pressure can be both a positive and negative influence. Lee (2002) found in his study that “positive peer relationships may be a significant agent for influencing academic and creative talent development” (p. 27). In this case, peers are acting as a positive influence. Another study also highlights the advantages of peer pressure in academics. Azmitia and Cooper (2001) concluded that “For many youth, friends are the most important reason for attending and staying in school” (p. 60). Ultimately these studies reveal how peer pressure can have polarizing effects on adolescents’ academic performance. While some students will gravitate toward a more academic-minded crowd and find acceptance in success, other students will seek out and conform to peers who are struggling academically.