Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Conducted by:
NAME REG NO.
Contents
ABSTRACT:.................................................................................................................................
1. Statement of the problem....................................................................................................
2. Objective of the research.....................................................................................................
3. Research questions..............................................................................................................
4. Hypothesis of the research..................................................................................................
5. Rationalistic scope of the research......................................................................................
6. Anticipated problems...........................................................................................................
Target population.......................................................................................................................
Sampled population...................................................................................................................
Sample size................................................................................................................................
Data collection tools...................................................................................................................
Validity of data collection tools...................................................................................................
Data analysis tools........................................................................................................................
Research setting.........................................................................................................................
Inclusion criteria.........................................................................................................................
Exclusion criteria........................................................................................................................
Data analysis..............................................................................................................................
REFERENCES:.........................................................................................................................
CH#1INTRODUCTION
1.1 Statement of the problem
The research is made on peer pressure related to the physiological pressure. The pressure faced
by the students due to their peers will be focused. Types of peer pressure will be found. Why and
how students are going through it would be tried to study.
For most children being popular with their peers in a strong motivator. Beginning in early
teenager however prefer to have a smaller number of friendships that are more intense and intimate
then those of the young children. The characteristic of friends have an important influence on teenagers
development. A recent study revealed that friends grade point average was a consistent predictor off
positive school achievement and also was linked to a lower level of negative behavior in area such as
drugs abuse and acting out. Although most teenager develop friendship with individuals who are close to
their own age some teenager become best friends with younger or older individuals. Young teenagers
conform more to peers standards than children do. Around eight to ninth grades conformity to peer
especially to their antisocial standards peaks. At this point teenagers are most likely to go along with
peers to steel hubcaps off a car drawing on a walls or steel cosmetic form the store counter. One study
found that most of the peers put pressure to resist the parental influences.
Research revealed the teenagers who are uncertain about their social identity which can appear in the
form of low self-esteem and high social anxiety are most likely to conform to peers. Also the peers are
more likely to conform when they are in the presence of someone they perceive to have high status then
they do. Lets say youre sitting around with some friends playing video games and someone
mentions a particular game that happens to be one of your favorites. Oh, that games easy. So not
worth the time, one of your friends says dismissively. The others agree. Inwardly, you know that
it is a game you happen to enjoy quite a lot but, outwardly, not wanting to debate the issue, you go
along with the crowd.
Cliques and crowds assume more influence in the lives of teenagers than children Cliques are a small
group that range from 2 to 12 individual and average about 5 to 6 individuals. The cliques members are
of same sex and same age. Some cliques form because of friendship in the high school year friendship
cliques become more heterosexual with many high school seniors averaging two opposite-sex and four
same sex friendships compared to none or one opposite sex and five or more same sex friendship in
sixth graders. These mixed sex friendships can provide teenagers with access to potential romantic
partners.
Crowds are larger than cliques less personal. Teens are usually member of crowd based on reputation
and they or they not spend much time together. Many crowds are defined by the activate teens engage in.
Reputation-based crowds often appear for the first time in early teens and usually become less
prominent in late teens. When teens suffer peers rejection they often feel lonely and socially dissatisfied.
Rejected teens also have low-self-esteem and may feel more depress then others. Peer rejection can also
lead many problems later in life like Law braking, mental health problems and dropping out from the
institution from where he/she get education etc. These problem become a daily base outcome.
Conformity is yielding to group pressure even when no direct to comply has been made.human are
social creatures, so we tend to behave as others in the group to do---that is, we typically conform. People
may conform for three major reasons:
Apearetnly, we are able to make up our minds privately even in the face of pressure from others,
but we often go along with crowed in term of outward behavior.we also conform because we
look to others as sources of information. For example, at a fancy dinner you may check to see
where other people are putting there napkins, which fork they are using for the salad, and where
to rest the butter knife. Conforming to the negative peer pressure can cause harm to the present
and future life of a teenager. (William Zins, APRIL 12, 2011 )
Although the peer pressure has some disadvantages but it has lot of advantages that can help
teenagers a lot. We are all influenced by our peers, both negatively and positively, at any age. For
teens, as school and other activities take you away from home, you may spend more time with
your friends than you do with your parents and siblings. As you become more independent, your
peers naturally play a greater role in your life. Sometimes, though, particularly in emotional
situations, peer influence can be hard to resistit really has become "pressure"and you may
feel compelled to do something you're uncomfortable with. While it can be hard for teens to
resist peer influence sometimes, especially in the heat of the moment, it can also have a positive
effect. Just as people can influence others to make negative choices, they can also influence them
to make positive ones. A teen might join a volunteer project because all of his or her friends are
doing it, or get good grades because the social group he or she belongs to thinks getting good
grades is important. In fact, friends often encourage each other to study, try out for sports, or
follow new artistic interests. (Ryan, 2000).
In this way, peer influence can lead teens to engage in new activities that can help build strong
pathways in the brain. As described in the article "Teens and Decision Making: What Brain
Science Reveals," neural connections that are weak or seldom used are removed during
adolescence through a process called synaptic pruning, allowing the brain to redirect precious
resources toward more active connections. This means that teens have the potential, through their
choices and the behaviors they engage in, to shape their own brain development. Therefore, skill-
building activitiessuch as those physical, learning, and creative endeavors that teens are often
encouraged to try through positive peer influence not only provide stimulating challenges, but
can simultaneously build strong pathways in the brain. While we are constantly influenced by
those around us, ultimately the decision to act (or not to act) is up to us as individuals. So when it
comes to decision making, the choice is up to you.
When children move to words teens they start involving in to the peers and start think about that
how we are looking in the eye of people. Their experience will rapidly changed when they come
in teens fallows. They also enhance their own mind. When the friends of teen said to him to do
anything but you dont do it then they became mad. And they start thinking that I am a loser this
thing make a teen freighted and start thing that I could not survive in a peers because of the
looseness.
This pressure make the teens to become cool and to be accepted that what thing make dissenting
of do what the parents told to do not do this it is wrong. Parents told you that it is wrong but for a
little bet it seems you that it is cool.
As children get enter in to teens they spent much time with their friends and do not give much
time to their parents. This thing create change in teens life they start doing the thing what their
peers said to them or in any others word they start adopting the nature of the peers. This thing far
the teens from parental hood.(Jerky S.Paul 20/03/2006)
For the teens the peers influence in them became greater with the passage of time. Peers routine
much involved in them they start doing everything which the peers do they start clothing like the
peers do if their peers are drugs taker then they also engaged with the drugs and if their peers do
any illegal act they also start doing illegal act because of involvement of peers routine in them.
However worry can arise when teens try to predict how peers will react, and this worry plays a
large role in peer influence. When the teens take a stand to move against the expectations of
peers then they would be at risk for being mocked. According to Ryan (2000) an important
component of interpersonal attraction and selection of friends is similarity.
When a friendship formed socialization process also involved which has two basic parameters
that are similarity and value. Similarity on any given characteristic affects the pressure that exit
among the peers to change. High similarity results in pressure to stay the same or at least no
pressure to change and low similarity results in pressure to change. And similarly high value
results in resistance to change, and low value results in approachability to change (Ryan, 2000).
Another expect of peer pressure is motivations. Motivation is that which focused on the student
involvement in work. It is found that peers group were influential regarding changes in students
intrinsic value for work and as well as achievement. The peer group was not, however, influential
regarding changes in students utility value for work. It was found that associating with friends
who have a positive affect toward work enhanced students own satisfaction with work, whereas
associating with friends who have a negative affect toward work decreased it (Ryan, 2000).
This article shows that peer pressure is not always negative , sometimes it has some of the
positive effects. First of all we will discuss positive effects of peer pressure.
Peer pressure is not bad all the time but it is useful to know where you are standing and helps
you to analyze yourself. By looking at what others do you may bring a positive change in your
life. Your peers can play a vital role in developing your personality by interacting with different
people with different atmosphere their behavior may influence you to change your life for
betterment. Peers can lead you to make the right choices in life. Some of its examples are under
Many a time it happens that you do not like a particular idea and you would not like to go with
that idea. But your peers forced you to do that thing in such cases you are not able to perform
well in those things which you never take interest in them. E.g. adopt their way of fashion,
clothing, hair, music and living style. Peers actually lead you to lose your taste of life and forced
yourself to begin liking what they like. Some major examples of negative peer pressure are under
This article is mainly based on the social effects of peer pressure. Peer pressure is a pressure
which we feel in our everyday life not only in school life but in our practical life as well. But
peer pressure is mostly happened in school life because we do not have a mature mind at that
time. For example Churchill was forced to read and write English language but at that time
English was not considered as a fine subject to learn Latin and other subjects were considered
superior. Churchill was pressured and was only bound to English but later it proves as a blessing
in disguise for him. Risk taking in an educational context is a vital skill that enables progress and
creativity. Sarah Jayne Blakemore, a cognitive neuroscientist at University College London, in a
review published last year. Yet she noted many young people are especially risk averse at school
afraid that one low test score or mediocre grade could cost them a spot at a selective university.
We should assure such students that risk, and even peer pressure can be a good thing. Yet our
schools focus primarily on students as individual entities but it is good for those students who are
not able to perform in a selected program. If a student is not able to perform good in sciences
than he must opt arts so he can perform well and may be he became a good professional in it and
laid foundation for others and for those parents who influence their children to learn sciences
instead of arts. Peer pressure have its advantages in social life it enables your hidden capabilities
to make progress in your life.( Annie Murphy Paul on November 1, 2015)
Peer Pressure Plays Significant Role in Student Behavior. Pundits have long pointed to the power
of peer pressure when seeking to explain why people particularly young people make bad or
otherwise questionable decisions but is it so powerful that poor students will pass up the chance
to take a $200 online SAT prep course for free just to fit in with their friends? Is being accepted
by ones peers more important than increasing ones chances of getting into a good college? A
pair of researchers set out to answer those questions last school year by visiting four low-
performing, low-income, predominantly Hispanic high schools in Los Angeles and offering 11th-
graders the chance to take a commercially available online SAT prep course for free.Among
students taking two honors classes, the researchers found that, when students thought their
decision to sign up for the free SAT prep course would be known by their peers, it decreased
sign-up rates by 25 percentage points when the students were in a regular class, where the sign-
up rate among their no-honors peers is low.
In stark contrast, the researchers found, publicizing the decision increased sign-up rates by 25
percentage points when such students were in an honors class, where the sign-up rate among
their all-honors peers is higher.( Jamaal Abdul-Alim, December 1, 2014)
New studies on peer pressure suggest that teenswho often seem to follow each other like
lemmingsmay do so because their brains derive more pleasure from social acceptance than
adult brains, and not because teens are less capable of making rational decisions.
And scientists say facing the influence of friends represents an important developmental step for
teens on their way to becoming independent-thinking adults.
Peer pressure is often seen as a negative, and indeed it can coax kids into unhealthy behavior like
smoking or speeding. But it can also lead to engagement in more useful social behaviors. If peers
value doing well in school or excelling at sports, for instance, it might encourage kids to study or
train harder. And both peer pressure and learning to resist it are important developmental steps to
self-reliance, experts say. Peer influence during adolescence is normal and tends to peak around
age 15, then decline. Teens get better at setting boundaries with peers by age 18 according to
Laurence Steinberg, a psychology professor at Temple University.
"It is adaptive to have a [biological] system that encourages you to start exploring outside the
home, to start making your new own peer circles," says Beatriz Luna, a developmental cognitive
neuroscientist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center who studies peer influence and the
adolescent brain.(SHIRLEY S. WANG, 17, 2013)
Peer pressure is the stress that stems from students peers. The students constantly worry about if
the next student is smarter than they are. So in turn they work themselves harder to compensate
for, what they think is, the lack of intelligence on their part. Zinsser points out that one of his
deans told him a story in which a students comes and says she is under terrible pressure because
her roommate was much brighter and studied all the time. So to balance out that her roommate is
smarter than her she studies even harder. It turns out that this young lady's roommate had been in
the see the same dean to complain about the same things an hour earlier. There is nothing wrong
with healthy competition between peers, but students who try to out do other students can have a
negative affect also.
If a student deals with the before mentioned pressures in a non-productive way it can lead to
added self-induced pressure. In many ways the technique that self-induced stress is dealt with
can either amplify or reduce the effect that other pressures have on someone. Setting unrealistic
goals are one way students can set them selves up for failure. If those goals are not met, the
student could fall into a depression and that in turn can increase the pressure they put on
themselves. One the other hand, if a student takes the time to organize and manage time when
faced with problems then the self-induced pressure is decreased. With the self-induced pressure
at a minimum it is easier to deal with other pressures as they come along. (William Zins, APRIL
12, 2011 )
CH#3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Target population
Students of age 16-25
Q.1 In asnswer to question how you ever been pressured into doing things that you
feel are out of your comfort zone?34% resonse ids for xyz
34
yes no
Q.2 In answer to question why have you been pressurized 17% respose is for
smoking, 23% for drinking, 34% for driving dangerously, 26% for stealing.
Smoking 17% 25 13
Drinking 23%
Stealing 26%
1.2
17
34
23
Q.3 In answer to questionDo you regret the times when you gave in to peer
pressure 23% for yes I feel terrible, 34% yes a bit, 29% not really, 14% not at all
1.2
23
29
34
Q.4 In answer to question Have you ever convinced a friend into doing something
you knew they were not comfortable withIf yes, then why for time pass34% for
distraction 17% for work17% for enjoyement 34%
14 17
Q.5 In answer to question Have you lied about liking something just because you
thought your friends would make fun of you if they knew about your dislike
40
60
yes no
Q.6 In answer to question If you were influenced by peer pressure, how do you feel
it has effected you that for positive way 46% for negative way 20% for both way
23% iwas not influenced 11%
46
20
Pressure of bullies 14
Pressure of strangers 3
3 8.2
14
29
a b c d
Q.8 In answer to question thatHave you ever done something that made you feel
bad about yourself just because others were urging you to do it
49
Q.9 In answer to question Have you ever done something that seemed harmless at
the time only to learn later that it hurt another person and did you then regret what
you had done in which
Never did it 26 20 21
26 26
31
a b c 4th Qtr
Q.10 In answer to question Have you ever tried drugs or alcohol just because your
friends were doing it
1.2 9
14
57
Q.11In answer to the question Have you ever damaged property while out with
friends?
22% 22%
55%
Q.12 In answer to the question Have you ever lied to your parents at the urging of
your friends?
29% 22%
48%
Table 2
Q.13 In answer to the question Have you ever helped a friend cover up a lie to
his/her parents?
11%
28%
61%
Q.14 In answer to the question Have you ever helped a friend deceive at school?
26% 17%
20% 37%
Q.15 In answer to the question Have you ever bought clothes based on what your
friends wear?
Table 5
22%
56%
22%
40
51
yes no
Q.17 In answer to the question Have your friends ever talked you in to committing a
crime?
6%
23%
71%
Table 7
Q.18 In answer to the question Have you ever been part of a bullying incident with
your friends?
9%
23%
17%
51%
Yes No
Yes, but I started it. I was forced in to that
32%
47%
21%
Table 9
13%
47%
40%
Q.22 In answer to the question Do you think that peer pressure is ever a good
thing?
Sales
) No never
Sometimes depending on thesituation
always a good thing
Q.23 In answer to question Does peer pressure only affect people in their
adolescent years?
Sales
REFERENCES
1. http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=136392
2. http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/lib/thesis/2004/2004howardn.pdf
3. http://www.academia.edu/7965855/A_PROJECT_ON_PEER_PRESSURE
4. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/peer-pressure-has-a-positive-side/
5. http://diverseeducation.com/article/68164/
6. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324520904578551462766909232
7. http://effectivepapers.blogspot.com/2011/04/research-paper-on-peer-pressure.html
8. JOHN W. SANTROCK. LIFE SPAN DEVELOPMENT(13 th ed). Mc GRAW HILL NEW
YORK.2002
9. Javeed, Clement. Personality creation. Pangun books. New jersy. 2013.
10.LAHEY, Hulk. PSYCHOLOGY AN INTRODUCTION(11th ed). Mc GRAW HILL. NEWYORK. 2011
APPENDIX
Attached at the end.
PEER PRESSURE ON TEEN AGER/STUDENTS
Age: _____
Name (opt):___________________
Gender:_______
Qualification:________________
1. Have you ever been pressured into doing things that you feel are out of your
comfort zone?
(a)Yes (b)No
4. Have you ever convinced a friend into doing something you knew they were not
comfortable with? If yes, then why?
5. Have you lied about liking something just because you thought your friends
would make fun of you if they knew about your dislike?
a) Yes (b) No
6. If you were influenced by peer pressure, how do you feel it has effected you?
(c)Both ways, depending on the situation (d) I was not influenced by peer
pressure
7. Which is the hardest pressure to resist?
8. Have you ever done something that made you feel bad about yourself just
because others were urging you to do it?
9. Have you ever done something that seemed harmless at the time only to learn
later that it
hurt another person and did you then regret what you had done?
10. Have you ever tried drugs or alcohol just because your friends were doing it?
11. Have you ever damaged property while out with friends?
13. Have you ever helped a friend cover up a lie to his/her parents?
15. Have you ever bought clothes based on what your friends wear?
16.Have you ever signed up for an activity, club or team just to be with a friend or
friends?
18. Have you ever been part of a bullying incident with your friends?
(a) Yes (b) No (c) Yes, but I started it. (d) I was forced in to that
23. Does peer pressure only affect people in their adolescent years?