The Real Secret to Fighting Peer Pressure

The advice "Just Say No" may not always work, but knowing the psychology behind peer pressure can help you maintain control when you’re experiencing it.

Hosted by: Brit Garner
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Sources:
Gilovich, T., Keltner, D., & Nisbett, R. E. (2006). Social Psychology. 1st edition, W.W. Norton & Company.

[evaristegalois]

Imagine giving in to peer pressure?

- _this post was made by no friends gang_

[Master_Therion]

My friends recently all started drinking homemade pear juice. They said it was healthy. It's actually very hard to make, it requires a lot of pear pressure.

[gardenhead]

I like to lower peer pressure by decreasing peer temperature. I call it the Ideal Peer Law

[kittybeans]

All my friends tell me I should resist peer pressure...
I dunno what to do.

[nikkiwilliamson]

Everyone is told not to give into peer pressure, but no one is told not to pressure our peers (something I read on tumblr a while ago)

[chris]

I remember realizing in college that when I was confused but everyone else was quiet, if I just risked being the stupid one and asked a question, there'd often be an audible sigh of relief in the room. It was super empowering, and made me a lot less afraid to ask questions from there out. I never knew there was a term for that though!

[tomsadler]

All the cool kids aren't caving in to peer pressure; you wanna be cool don't you?

[dutchik]

For it to work. You actually need to interact with peers

[oAvalono]

This reminds me of when both my parents got laid off from work and couldn't afford a babysitter, so I got to go to college with my mom. She thought I was just sitting quietly playing with my Legos but I learned some things from her psychology class LOL. It helped me out a lot in the future.

[DesolatorMagic]

I use 50% not giving a crap about what other people think mixed with 50% confidence in assuming I'm smarter and better at decision making than the majority of the rest of society. It works.

[lewismassie]

Being socially awkward makes it almost impossible to get me to do anything I don't want to

[joojoochen]

I've been trying to quit drinking, because I just don't like myself when I'm drunk and I don't like how I feel the next day physically and mentally. I genuinely enjoy going out sober though. Some of the best nights I ever had were when I was sober, but my friends get so mad at me for not drinking and call me boring. I know that makes my friends sound horrible, but apart from that they are really good people. I don't even think they are aware of why they say it, they have just heard it so many times from other people, that they started saying it themselves. I know in the end it's still my decision if I drink or not, but the peer pressure definitely makes it harder.
I've managed to not drink since the beginning of the year and I hope I'll continue doing so.

[unleashingpotential-psycho]

Learning to say no is one of the best things someone can learn in life. 🔥

[TheTexas]

You can’t get peer pressured into doing drugs if you already do drugs

[livingbeings]

"*drag* you on a run"?? What??
I treasure any friend who helps motivate me to get exercise.

[genericangst]

I'm in that awkward spot where I'm gullible and indecisive, so when pressured, I do a weird halfway that is somehow worse than whatever I'm being told to do.

[tomryan]

This is why people value outspoken leaders so much. They're the people who are brave enough to take the risk and speak up when everyone else is afraid to. They risk ostracism if they're wrong. But when they're right, they unite people around common interests that those people didn't realize were common. It often takes a leader to manifest the will of a group. It's also possible that more open communication in a group could mitigate this need.

[CC-bphn]

Hey guys, loving the new channel, and Mrs. Garner is doing an excellent job presenting and speaking on science. Love the videos, and keep up the good work lads and lasses.

[justinh]

An advice that I've learned about how to conquer peer pressure, is simply by being optimistic, because at first, I've struggled by how this was going to help, but actually it's like an opposition towards thinking critically about what the situation is all about

[djb]

Does this explain why a few misbehaved students can ruin the learning environment?