The fact that every individual has a different mind set, which means they have the liberty to freely express themselves, doesn’t seem to always matter in the lives of adolescents. The article “Negative and Positive Peer Influence,” by Laura M. Padilla talks about how adolescents are the most commonly affected group of people by peer influence whether it is a positive or negative influence. The effect on whether ethnicity plays a big role in falling into peer influence hasn’t quite been proven. I believe ethnicity along with family and the level of happiness has a lot to do with how u let people influence your life.
The articles states that adolescents that have a stronger relationship with their parents and family are less likely to be negatively peer pressured. They are also more inclined to think individually. I totally agree with this because usually people that are really close with their family tend to be happier then those people who have problems with their families making them not close to them. The people who are not close to their family might not feel appreciated or they might feel lonely. Thus causing them to seek acceptance and comfort from someone else. I think this is the main reason why adolescents fall into negative peer pressure. Those who have a stronger bond with their parents and family are not easily influenced by others according to the article. I believe the reason for this is that they are encouraged and also given the opportunity by their families to think for themselves and be more individualistic.
Friends are a very important part of adolescents’ lives. They provide social and emotional support when no one else will. Which is why it is easy to establish a close bond with them. This is when positive influence comes to play. The article states that positive influence of peers can incline the person to get along better with their parents as well as their families. They also do better in school, get better grades and are more likely to stay away from drugs. Although positive peer influence can encourage adolescents to become better people it is unfortunate that “negative peer effect has a stronger effect on adolescents then positive peer effect. This meaning that there are more adolescents that are doing the wrong things because of a negative influence then adolescents that’s are doing the correct things.
I learned from the article that there are four different types of peer influence but two that are more commonly focused on. These two are direct peer pressure and indirect peer pressure. The difference between these two is that one is intentional and the other is not. Direct peer pressure deals with people purposely trying to make the other person do what they want they try to “influence their attitudes and behaviors.” I believe the people who are more inclined to fall into this pressure are those who are not happy with their lives or feel lonely. So they can either be falling into the peer pressure because they don’t care about their lives or because they want to be liked. The other type of influence, indirect influence deals with peers unintentionally influencing others. This meaning that if an adolescent is around people that are doing the wrong thing he might be more inclined to doing the same because they serve as a model. I think a good