How to win the battle against Peer Pressure?

Peer pressure is such a common term. We hear it growing up and most of us have fallen prey to this psychological pressure sometime or the other in our lives. 

What is Peer Pressure?

It is a direct or indirect social pressure exerted by a group or person which leads to a shift in attitude, values, beliefs of another person in order to conform with the group.

Is all Peer Pressure negative?

Despite the common notion, all kinds of peer pressure are not negative. Some times, the pressure can have a positive impact on the person experiencing it. For instance, if Sumi becomes a part of a group that believes in working hard, meeting deadlines, is ambitious then naturally Sumi, too will tend to become goal-oriented. 

Why is this Pressure so influential?

Human beings are social creatures. There are mainly two types of identities that we all strive for: Self Identity & Group Identity. 

The social group we join reflects the kind of group identity we will develop. Becoming a part of any group gives us a feeling that we belong somewhere, that we are a part of something larger and we define ourselves in conjunction with this group. That's why it becomes important to follow whatever the group members do, be it positive or negative because we don't want to lose out on the group identity, we don't want to lose out on the feeling of belongingness. 

Which age-group is most influenced by peer pressure?

It is hard to generalize the phenomenon to a particular age group, however, by far adolescents is one such time period where most people would experience peer pressure. This is because the need to belong to a group and the search for one's identity is highest during this time period. Most adolescents will be open to experimentation as they are still trying to understand themselves and the world around them. Thus, getting entangled in the cycle of negative peer pressure is common. 

How can we prevent our teenagers from the negative effects of peer pressure?

1. William Mcguire, an American Social Psychologist gave us an important concept of 'Innoculation against Persuasive Attacks'. He believed that just like we innoculate infants against diseases by introducing a vaccine into their body, we can also psychologically innoculate human beings against any persuasive attacks by first exposing them to weaker counterarguments. For example- Many times teenagers are pressured by their friends to try out different substances like alcohol, cigarettes. If parents and schools are aware of the substance use problem, they can innoculate the students against the persuasive attacks that they are going to face in the future. You as a parent could educate your children about the harmful effects of smoking a cigarette and eventually help them learn how to refuse a smoke when they are offered one. The child could probably tell their group members that smoking can be addictive and lead to us becoming dependent on the substance every time we face stress. It is on the parents and schools to devise ways to innoculate students from different kinds of negative peer pressure they would eventually face. Most students would know that smoking is bad for health, they just don't know how to refuse a persuasive pressure imposed on them by the social group they really want to be a part of. Using role-plays to help your child understand and enact how they can behave if they are offered a substance can help as well.
2. Individuality- Indian culture tends towards collectivism than focussing on individual identity. It is often ingrained in our belief system that being a part of a social group, helping each other is the best practice. While collectivism has it's own benefits, it often forgets to teach us the value of individual identity and appreciation of one's own ideas/ opinions. A student roaming around alone in the school is perceived as a loner and pitted upon. Children from a young age need to be taught the difference between being alone and being lonely. It is also important to help your children understand that being a part of the wrong company is worse for one's identity than being alone for a while. 

Coping with peer pressure is an important lesson that can help people grow as individuals with the right guidance.