Some people say that peer pressure doesn’t exist.
And personally, although I may not quite agree with this statement, I do believe that “peer pressure” can never be used as an excuse.
Although your peers may pressure you, in my mind, the ultimate decision is your own.
However, a recent article by the New York Times entitled “Teenagers, Friends and Bad Decisions” introduced new research by Temple University in which psychologists challenged the non-existence of this so-called pressure.
The experiments were conducted with 40 volunteers: 14 young teenagers, 14 college undergraduates, and 12 adults. Each person was hooked up to a brain scanner while they engaged in a six-minute video driving game, with each win rewarded with a crash prize. Each volunteer played the video game 4 times, with 2 out of the 4 times playing alone and the other 2 times told they were being watched by two same-sex friends in another room.
The findings showed that among the adults and college students tested, neither group showed a change in risk taking (such as running yellow lights or excessive speeding) when playing alone or being watched by two friends. However, the group of young teenagers showed a significant increase in risk taking activities while being watched by two friends compared to when the were playing alone. These young teenagers ran an average of 40 percent more yellow lights along with 60 percent more crashes when they believed their friends were analyzing their every action. In addition, specific regions of the brain linked to reward showed an increase in activity.
“The presence of peers activated the reward circuitry in the brain of adolescents that it didn’t do in the case of adults,” said psychology professor at Temple and author of “You and Your Adolescent: The Essential Guide for Ages 10 to 25,” Laurence Steinberg. “We think we’ve uncovered one very plausible explanation for why adolescents do a lot of stupid things with their friends that they wouldn’t do when they are by themselves.”
This finding is different from many others in terms of the peers that were creating this “pressure” were in another room instead of directly next to them. The subject could neither hear nor see them, though was still directly influenced by their “presence.”
“The subject was in the scanner, so the friends were not able to directly pressure the person to take chances,” said Dr. Steinberg. “I think it’s helpful to understand because many parents conceive of peer pressure as kids directly coercing each other into doing things. We’ve shown that just the knowledge that your friends are watching you can increase risky behavior.”
Dr. Steinberg also states that this finding is supported by brain changes that occur in young adults shortly after puberty. These changes cause an increased care in teenagers over what others think of them.
Fortunately, this experiment demonstrated young teenagers being indirectly pressured to increase risk activity in a video game rather than in real life.
This article made me realize that yes, there is peer pressure, for even myself tries to impress others at times, even if it is at a silly video game.
And even though we may be, even unknowingly influenced by those around us, we must always understand that our actions are still our own responsibility. And as much as one would like to blame wrong actions on peer pressure, bad behavior is simply bad behavior.
Source: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/teenagers-friends-and-bad-decisions/?src=me&ref=general
OVS Journalism Blog 
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