Kaleigh Allen

Kaleigh Allen

Bruce Podobnik

Introduction to Sociology

Behind the Wheel of Teen Peer Pressure

Humans are an extremely social species. People engage in all sorts of activities together, from eating and learning, to everything in between.The idea of individuality itself is questionable due to seemingly constant human interaction. With this in mind, peer pressure dynamics is one of the major controlling factors in an individual's thoughts and behaviors. Observing how people succumb or stand up to group influence is a somewhat mysterious area of study. Here is an examination of some possible reason behind an individual falling into problematic group behavior.

My personal account of the effects of group dynamics on the individual occured my Junior year of high school. In my Spanish 3 class was a freshman boy named Milad. He spoke fluent spanish and was an outgoing, friendly person. His signature move was to teach random strangers perform complicated handshakes with him. After noticing his absence for a few days, I was horrified to hear what had happened to him. Over the weekend, Milad, his girlfriend and two of his friends were drinking at his house. The group of them decided to steal Milad’s parent’s car and go for a nighttime joy ride. Milad was driving drunk at 90 miles an hour in a residential area when he lost control of the car and crashed into a tree. The two friends in the back had bruises and whiplash, his girlfriend in the passenger seat suffered from a severe neck injury, and Milad slipped into a two month long coma. Although he eventually awoke, Milad now has severe brain damage limiting his mobility, speech, and cognitive function. He can not even do a handshake anymore. Of those I know, this is the most extreme and powerful example of how peer pressure can cause problematic behavior and dreadful results.

Adolescents such as Milad are especially susceptible to the influence of peer pressure. Margo Gardner and Laurence Steinberg conducted an experiment to study the extent of group influence on youth, adolescents, and adults. The experiment had 150 groups made up of three people who knew each other previously. Each person in the study played a driving video game, Chicken, fifteen times alone and fifteen times in front of peers. The friends were encouraged to shout their advice on how the subject should drive, simulating a real life experience such as Milad’s. Gardner and Steinberg found that “compared with those who completed measures by themselves, participants who completed the same measures with peers present took more risks during the [Chicken] game” (Gardner & Steinberg, 2008, p.151). The presence of one’s peers puts pressure on the individual to act in accordance with what the group desires. Furthermore, personalities that lean towards the risky and adventurous are favorable among many teens. Adolescence also lack the driving experience that would restrain others from dangerous activity. Another interesting aspect of this study was the finding that “between adolescence and adulthood there is a significant decline in both risk taking and risky decision making” and that “relative to adults, adolescents are more susceptible to the influence of their peers in risky situations” (Gardner & Steinberg, 2008, p.151). Those with driving experience, most adults, know that the roads can be very dangerous. In my experience, teenagers drive with little concern for safety, which is likely due to naiveness regarding the hazards driving poses. Therefore people without much driving experience, namely adolescents, are more likely to succumb to peers wanting to drive irresponsibly.

Another major way peer pressure controls the individual is through the fabrication of social identities. Society, the media, and pop culture give teenagers certain set characteristics, and after being told something long enough, one starts to become it. In Zimbardo’s (2007) experiment, college students completely took on their roles as prisoners and guards in just six days. Zimbardo found that “individual behavior is largely under the control of social forces and environmental contingencies rather than personality traits, character, will power, or other empirically unvalidating constructs” (Zimbardo, 2007, p.318). If this transformation occurred after only six days, imagine the impact of years of teenage identity indoctrination. Movies and television represent adolescence as rebellious and unsavory stage of life where kids act out and cause shenanigans. People’s lives become a self-fulfilling prophecy when growing up instilled with the idea that teens exhibit such wild and crazy behavior.

In addition to identity fulfillment, the social construction of high school itself causes teens to engage in risky behavior. The seven strategies for fostering social control thrive in this setting. Students are fairly isolated from society, sometimes are forced to wear uniforms, compete to not fail classes, and participate in school chants. As opposed to the military where the institution engineered controls, one’s high school peers hold power over the individual. The individual faces fear of isolation if he/she does not conform to the social norm. In addition to a fear of isolation is the desire to be viewed highly among one’s peers. This is where problematic behavior may begin as a way to gain social standing. If someone parties and breaks the law, many peers look up to this individual. This may explain both why fourteen year olds were drinking and be the reason Milad decided to take his parent’s car.

Peer pressure is a complex entity that creeps its way into most aspects of life. It fosters bolder behavior, creates social molds, and changes establishments from their intended purpose. Adolescence are especially susceptible to its influence. Although peer pressure is not always bad - it encourages competition for good grades, extracurriculars and more - people often find themselves in risky situations where they would never have been without the influence of others. In cases such as Milad’s peer pressure is a devastating force.

Reference

Gardner M. & Steinberg L. (2008). Peer Pressure is a Risk for Adolescents(pp.151). In Carroll, J.C. (Eds.), America’s Youth: Opposing Viewpoints. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press.

Zimbardo P.H. (2007). The Pathology of Imprisonment (pp. 318). In Henslin J.M. (Eds). Down to Earth Sociology: Introductory Readings. New York, NY: Free Press.