Peer Pressure Issue - Literature review Example

Literature Review on Peer Pressure Peer pressure refers to the influence that a group exerts on individuals to change their behavior, attitudes and values in order to conform to norms of the wider group. Peer pressure can come from informal groups such as social cliques or formal groups like membership groups. Social cliques do not have defined memberships and may include one’s friends, classmates or workmates. Membership groups, on the other hand, are more formal and have membership criteria with clear objectives (Barry, & Wentzel, 2006). This includes political parties, trade unions and other formal organizations. Groups have a lot of influence on one’s behavior. Individuals often tend to behave like other members of their groups in order to maintain the identity of the group. Peer pressure can either be positive of negative. Positive peer pressure influences individuals to adopt good social and moral values while negative peer pressure results in individuals developing bad attitudes and undesired social and moral values within the society (Barry, & Wentzel, 2006). Contrary to popular belief, peer pressure affects both youths and adults alike. Both adults and the youths are at risk of falling to peer pressure, although youths and adolescents bear the greatest risk (Bing,& Hongling, 2013). One has to develop a strong character with self-control in order to overcome influence from peers. In this essay, the author will analyze two scholarly articles on peer pressure in social psychology. The analysis will be based on various elements of the research studies such as the methodologies used, research design, findings as well as the statistical tools used in the studies (Bing,& Hongling, 2013). The essay will also present a literature review of other sources on peer pressure in social psychology. One of the articles that this essay will analyze is “Relationship between degrees of self-esteem and peer pressure in high school adolescents” by Mustafa Uslu. This is a qualitative study conducted among youths in Turkey to determine the relationship between self-efficacy expectations and different levels of peer pressure. The other article is “Can religious beliefs combat negative peer influence during adolescence?” by Grier, Leslie and Gudiel, Wendy. This study’s objective was to find out different dimensions of religiosity that can be helpful in combating negative peer pressure among adolescents (Leslie & Wendy, 2011). Research Design Research design of a scientific study refers to a broader strategy or plan to conduct a study to solve a problem. It outlines the procedures the researcher will take in integrating various components of the study in order to achieve the overall research objective. A research design is important in research because it is the blue print for the entire study (Barry, & Wentzel, 2006). A research design identifies the type of study, the research question, research variables, and the research hypothesis. There are six main types of research designs namely, descriptive, experimental, meta-analytic, review, correlation, and semi-experimental research designs (Pettit, Green, Grover, Schatte, & Morgan, 2011). The choice of a particular research type of research design depends on the specific problem that the research seeks to address scientifically. The two studies identified above employ the same research design to achieve their main objectives. Both researchers use a descriptive research design with a naturalistic observation approach. In the first research, Uslu collected first hand data on about 500 students in high school. This process laid ground for a descriptive research strategy that sought to analyze peer pressure and efficacy in youths. Leslie and Wendy also used naturalistic observation to study how religious values can affect peer pressure by basing their research on 220 students. The choice for this research design for both studies resonates well with the research question each of them is trying to resolve. In Uslu’s study, for instance, the researcher was trying to harmonize the relationship between peer pressure and different kinds of self-efficacy among adolescents such as social, academic and emotional self-efficacy (Usiu, 2013). Leslie and Wendy, on the other hand, were trying to determine the role that religious values and belief systems can help address issues of peer pressure among the youths. These research problems require the researcher to be involved in the process of data collection personally in order to get a firsthand view of the different issues involved. This research design gave the researchers a wide platform to get first hand information on their main areas of research through studying their own sample populations. Data Collection and Measurement Data collection is the next step after identifying a research problem and research design. This involves going through various sources of data in a bid to find appropriate and relevant solutions for the research problem (Kiran-Esen, 2012). There are two main sources of data namely primary and secondary sources. Primary sources of data are those in which a researcher collects original or firsthand data through interviews, observation, surveys and questionnaires. Secondary sources of data refer to other relevant materials collected by other researchers recorded in books, journals or other useful resources (Kiran-Esen, 2012). Different types of research call for different methods of data collection, while some types of research can accommodate both primary and secondary data. ` In the first study, Uslu relied on primary methods of data collection to collect data for analysis. This research is a descriptive study seeking to determine if there is a difference peer pressure degrees and self-esteem among adolescents with respect to their gender and income level. The researcher reached out to 527 students in high school in Kayseri, Turkey. The researcher disregarded results from 27 students due to various errors and inconsistencies in their answers and relied on results from 500 students only, aged between 15 and 17 years. Of these 500 students, 227 were male while the other 223 were female (Usiu, 2013). The researcher collected data from the students using questionnaires where students recorded different elements that were significant to the study. After data collection and sorting, the researcher used two statistical instruments to measure the data before final analysis. These are the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and the Peer Pressure Scale (PPS). RSES was developed in 1965 by Rosenberg and is a 10-point Guttmann scale. The researcher used this scale to measure the degree of self-esteem from the students. Uslu developed the Peer Pressure Scale (PPP) in 2002 to measure peer pressure among adolescents. It is a 5-point likert scale for determining the level or peer pressure influence on an individual. The second study by Leslie and Wendy is also descriptive in nature and involved a sample size of 220 students taken from a catholic school in California, US. The researchers relied on the school’s census, which showed that 92% of its students were Catholics (Leslie & Wendy, 2011). The sample size included 125 female students and 65 male students from a diverse racial background. The participant’s age ranges between 14 and 18 and included students from 9th to 12th grade (Leslie & Wendy, 2011). The researchers obtained parental permission to collect data from minor students while the older students gave their own informed consent to participate in the research. The researchers used the Attitude to Christianity Inventory scale to measure religiosity of the participants. This scale elements pertaining to God, Prayer, the Bible, Jesus, church and Social Justice that can determine important elements of religious beliefs (Leslie & Wendy, 2011). The researchers also measured peer pressure among the participants by examining various elements including perceptions of peer behavior and peer conformity. The researchers used the Peer Conformity Scale to measure the degree to which the participants conform to pressure from their peers and the Peer Delinquency Scale to measure different perceptions of peer behavior. Results and Findings Both studies revealed useful information and unearthed useful insights for understanding peer pressure among the youths. Uslu (2013), for instance, found out from his research that females had a lower degree of self-esteem than their male counterparts did. The study also showed that female students are exposed more to direct peer pressure as compared to boys. Male students, on the other hand, have a higher rate for exposure to indirect peer pressure in comparison to the female students. This study further found out that the degree of peer pressure among adolescents is viewed in terms of their income levels. Those with middle-income levels have a have high self esteem. Uslu (2013) also found out that peer pressure affects self-esteem negatively. However, there is a positive correlation between indirect peer pressure and self-esteem. Leslie and Wendy also uncovered useful revelations from their study on religiosity and peer pressure. Their findings were consistent with other previous researches done in the same field. The researchers found out that peer pressure is a major predictor of anti-social behavior among adolescents than religiosity. They also found out that female participants had a higher score in terms of some elements in the Attitude to Christianity Inventory scale such as prayer and social justice. The other significant finding of this study is that protective elements of religiosity such as social justice and the bible can be mediated with a tendency to conform to peers (Kiran-Esen, 2012). Religiosity can play a role in helping adolescents make positive choices when they come under negative pressure from peers. Findings from both research studies are very useful in helping individuals to understand the impact of peer pressure on adolescents. Peer pressure is a real problem among the youths and these results show how different elements have a role in shaping ones character to conform to peer pressure. Uslu (2013) exposed elements such as levels of income and different degrees of self-efficacy and their impact on peer pressure of both male and female adolescents. Individuals from diverse backgrounds with regard to of gender, and income levels have different responses to both direct and indirect peer pressure. Leslie and Wendy, on the other hand brought in the element of religion in assessing how individuals perceive and respond to peer pressure. Religion has been at the helm of instilling moral values in individuals in the society for a long time. These moral values help to create a strong character among individual based on self-control and prudence. These qualities enable one to overcome negative influences that can change their attitudes and behavior. It is from this background that Leslie and Wendy undertook their research on whether religiosity can be used to combat negative peer pressure among youth. Their results were in harmony with other studies that had been conducted in previous years on the same research problem. This study was, however, instrumental in bringing in a different dimension or perspective in the issues I order to make it clearer. Analysis and Recommendations Peer pressure is a real problem that is eating up moral decision making among most adolescents. There is need for adults to understand the different elements of peer pressure so as to make informed decisions in intervening to combat negative peer pressure among young people. These studies are very effective in analyzing the problem and bring to the forefront different issues that would otherwise remain unknown (Gardner, & Steinberg, 2005). Adults ought to make informed decisions on how to help young people overcome the challenge of peer pressure. The studies recognize that peer pressure is a real problem in the contemporary society where adolescents can easily access to a lot of information from media and the internet. With this kind of environment, it is very difficult to regulate a child’s behavior. This task requires one to be keen in their approach in order not to affect the child’s self-esteem in the process (Gardner, & Steinberg, 2005). The authors of these studies bring out many different viewpoints based on reliable empirical studies. Despite being very efficient in their analysis of the data collected and the findings derived thereof, there are various recommendations that the researchers should have taken care of in order to make their studies more authoritative. Both researchers should have used a bigger sample with a very diverse background in order to make the results relevant to different categories of people around the world (Kiran-Esen, 2012). The researchers should also include in their reports, elements such as variations in data, with an explanation of how these variations influenced their findings. The authors should also have stated how they addressed different limitations in their studies. References Barry, C.M., & Wentzel, K.R. (2006). Friend influence on prosocial behavior: The role of motivational factors and friendship characteristics. Developmental Psychology, 42, 153–163. Bing, S., & Hongling, X. (2013). “Peer Group Influence on Urban Preadolescents' Attitudes Toward Material Possessions: Social Status Benefits of Material Possessions”. Journal Of Consumer Affairs, 47(1), 46-71. Gardner, M., & Steinberg, L. (2005). Peer influence on risk taking, risk preference, and risky decision making in adolescence and adulthood: An experimental study. Developmental Psychology, 41, 625–635. Kiran-Esen, B. (2012). “Analyzing Peer Pressure and Self-Efficacy Expectations among Adolescents”. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 40(8), 1301-1309. Leslie G. & Wendy G. (2011). Can religious beliefs combat negative peer influence during adolescence?, Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 14:10, 983-997. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13674676.2010.542452 Pettit, J., Green, K., Grover, K., Schatte, D., & Morgan, S. (2011).  Domains of chronic stress and suicidal behaviors among impatient adolescent.  Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology, 40(3), 494-499. Usiu M. (2013). “Relationship between degrees of self-esteem and peer pressure in high school adolescents”. International Journal of Research part B, 5(3), 117-122. Retrieved from Http://Www.Academia.Edu/3311137/RELATIONSHIP_BETWEEN_DEGREES_OF_SELF-ESTEEM_AND_PEER_PRESSURE_IN_HIGH_SCHOOL_ADOLESCENTS Read More