Overcoming Peer Pressure

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“I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations...” -- Bruce Lee

“He that lies with the dogs, riseth with fleas.” -- George Herbert

Remember your first cigarette? How about your first beer? First puff on a fatty? What about jumping off the old bridge into the creek? What/who convinced you to do it? Friends...Right? Peer Pressure: Influence from members of one's peer group (and a hard thing to resist if you ask me). Well, studies show that I am not alone. Peer pressure is a condition of the brain! The human brain values achievement in social settings over achievements performed alone. Two parts of the brain linked with rewards, the striatum and the medial prefrontal cortex, showed much more activity in success amongst friends than success by oneself.

In the article, Infographic: The Science of Peer Pressure, the author calls friendship, magic. Group support can have the power to help you tolerate pain, stay healthy, make you more kind-hearted, raise your math scores, and discourage terrorism (http://1bog.org/blog/infographic-the-science-of-peer-pressure/). The article ...

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