How pressure works

Why do people give in to peer pressure?

It could be that we:

• are afraid of being rejected by other people in our group.
• want to be liked and don’t want to lose friends.
• want to appear grown up.
• don’t want to be made fun of.
• don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings.
• aren’t sure of what we really want.
• don’t know how to get out of the situation.

Why do people pressure others?

This is a harder question to answer because people are so different. Some reasons are:

• they don’t want to be the only one doing something.
• they want to be the leader in a group.
• they are afraid of being pressured themselves.
• they want to feel grown–up.
• they want to feel cool.
• they want people to think that they are adventurous.
• they assume everyone wants to do the same things that they do.

If your friends are pressuring you to do something, remember that sometimes people don’t realise they are putting pressure on others. You might need to point it out to them.

Peer Pressure can be positive too – like if your friends want you to join a youth club or a sports team.