Teens & peer influence
Peer influence is the process in which individuals within the same association impact others in the association.
A baby grows in the love of the parents, learns a lot through their parents. As the child begins to grow, the parents influence the friends their children keep.
Once a child becomes a teenager, he begins to pick friends on his own and tends to relate more with his friends than his parents. During this period, this set of friends either influence the child positively or negatively.
There are 6 types of peer influence
. Positive peer influence
. Negative peer influence
. Spoken peer influence
. Unspoken peer influence
. Direct peer influence
. Indirect peer influence
Positive peer influence
Positive peer influence is very valuable. Good traits are adopted from their social circles, leading to accomplishment and well-being. It motivates determination, priority, goal-setting, strategic planning, and diligence. For example, pushing a friend to study harder for better grades and a future.
Negative peer influence
Negative peer influence is against the ethical code and principles, it has a great impact on a person’s mental and physical health and emotional well-being. It pulls people toward unhealthy activities such as criminal acts & drug abuse.
Spoken peer influence
Spoken peer influence is usually a direct way of influence either by a person or group of persons in a spoken manner. If it is based on an individual or one on one, the recipient has a greater opportunity to stick to his core value but if it’s in a group, pressurizing with words can be very difficult to resist.
Unspoken peer influence
Unspoken peer influence is usually by action, giving clothes to the recipients, going to clubs or hotels with the recipient, those without mental maturity are majorly affected by this type of pressure.
Direct peer influence
Direct peer influence is mainly done directly by friends, in a bid not to lose friend, the influence is strong on the recipient. It involves confrontation.
Indirect peer influence
Indirect peer influence is a passive way of influence, the influencer oftentimes doesn’t know he is influencing anyone. For instance, a teenager who has been listening to friends talking about sexual intercourse feels he is missing out and wants to try it out
Effects of peer pressure
Emotional behavior
Social behavior
Self-doubt
Anxiety
When you are saying yes to others make sure you are not saying no to yourself
