Peer Pressure as a Major Cause of Unusual Behavior - Essay Example

Peer pressure demands that a person conforms to group norms and demonstrates his or her commitment and loyalty to other group members. This can be the pressure from their friends or those who are close to whom they interact in their daily life.

In this process of peer influence, friends adapt to each other’s preferences and interests leading to a shared outlook on their world. In most cases, a young person’s values are altered and shaped by his peer group to increase his similarity with the other group members. Peer groups are usually well established in most high schools, and workplaces, and members of the group exert pressure on the new members joining the group.

Friendship among teenagers is one of the most important factors during development. Friendship gives them a secure venue to discover their identity and experience a sense of belonging. It also cultivates social skills relevant to their future success. On the contrary, friendship can influence them negatively or positively whereby they end up submitting to negative or positive peer influence. Young people become influenced because of their self-image and self-esteem. This serves as a motive for them to identify with groups that they fit or groups that will accept them.

Those dimensions of the self that are valued by one’s peer group become very outstanding in each young person’s self-assessment. Positive Peer PressureSome peer pressure can be good. This is measured by their outcome whereby the positive influence of friends is seen to play important roles in the lives of peers. Positive peers set good examples among themselves, and they tend to become good role models for each other. They can influence each other on goal-oriented activities such as working together in school work, discussing problems and personal issues together that can help one to make good decisions, listening to each other, offering good advice, and developing a positive culture among others.

Positive peer pressure can be used to encourage and promote social behavior because as observed peers can have a powerful effect on self-esteem. Well-accepted children can display positive academic skills, social behavior, and even leadership qualities, while those who are less accepted tend to display low levels of academic performance and aggressive behaviors (Newman & Newman, 296). The positive peer groups may also be involved in clubs such as sports and religious groups, which helps them to shape their values and social skills.