peer pressure

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

an idiom and psychological concept describing the influence that members of a peer group — people of similar age, status, or social position — exert on one another to conform to group norms, adopt group behaviours, and share group attitudes, particularly in adolescence when peer relationships are at their most psychologically central and identity formation is most actively in progress; peer pressure operates through both explicit encouragement or coercion — directly urging peers to adopt particular behaviours — and implicit social signalling — through the visible behaviour of group members that creates normative expectations about what is acceptable, desirable, or required for group membership; peer pressure is associated in popular discourse primarily with negative outcomes — the pressure to engage in risk-taking, substance use, or antisocial behaviour — but research shows that peer influence is equally powerful in promoting prosocial behaviours, academic achievement, and health-promoting choices when positive peer norms are dominant