Peer group influences affect children much earlier than researchers have suspected, finds a new University of Maryland-led study. The researchers say it provides a wake-up call to parents and educators to look out for undue group influences, cliquishness and biases that might set in early, the researchers say. The study appears in the May/June 2013 issue of Child Development, and is available online. The researchers say their work represents a new line of research – what they call "group dynamics of childhood." No prior research has investigated what children think about challenging groups that act in ways that are unfair or nontraditional, they note. The findings refute an older view that conflicts between group loyalty and fairness are not yet part of elementary-school aged children's everyday interactions. "This is not just an adolescent issue," says University of Maryland developmental psychologist Melanie Killen, the study's lead researcher. "Peer group pressure begins in elementary schools, as early as age nine. It's what kids actually encounter there on any given day." Even at this earlier age, children show moral independence and will stand up to the group, Killen adds. But it is also a setting where the seeds of group prejudices can develop, if not checked. "Parents and teachers often miss children's nascent understanding of group dynamics, as well as kids' willingness to buck to the pressure," Killen explains. Children begin to figure out the costs and consequences of resisting peer group pressure early. By adolescence, they find it only gets more complicated." The emergence of peer groups in elementary school aids children's development by providing positive friendships, relationships, and social support, Killen adds. The downsides include the undue influence of a group when it imposes unfair standards, especially on outsiders, or members of "outgroups," which is what is often created when peers form an "ingroup." "Children may need help from adults when they face conflicts between loyalty to the group and fairness to outsiders," Killen says. "They may be struggling to 'do the right thing' and still stay on good terms with friends in the group, but not know how. If a child shows discomfort and anxiety about spending time with friends, this may signal conflicts in their peer group relationships." The researchers conducted extended interviews and surveys with representative groups of fourth- and eighth-graders from a Mid-Atlantic suburban area. All were from middle income families and reflected U.S. ethnic backgrounds. They probed attitudes on a moral issue – dividing up resources equally for those in and out of the group, and on a question of tradition (group t-shirts).
author Alexander Robbins states: “From the age of five children increasingly exclude peers who don’t conform to group norms. Children learn this quickly. A popular Indiana eighth grader told me ‘I have to be the same as everybody else, or people won’t like me anymore’” (150). The human brain is wired such that children will end friendships with kids that they find different. Robbins finds this behavior to be undesirable saying that it is not only unappealing, but it is a cop-out. In agreement with Robbins, parents across the world, organizations, and teen movies tell society that conformity is bad and that children should not conform to the group, rather they should stand alone and be individuals. However, Solomon Asch’s study may have discovered why this is. He concluded that: “The investigations described in this series are concerned with the independence and lack of independence in the face of group pressure” (1). Asch determines that in the face of pressure people are more apt to conform.
Peer groups are different in characteristic and require a customized approach. Nonetheless, at the heart of youths is an intense energy that yearns to connect and explore the surrounding (Goold 435). This makes it easier for the youth to engage in improper habits that have dire repercussions.
“Emotional regulation can lead to more fulfilling social experiences. Children of the same age argue on about the same socio-cognitive and moral level, face the same transitions and life events. These similarities are expected to improve their understanding of their peers’ situation, perhaps to some extent independent of inter-individual differences due to level of development, personality, or upbringing. The second reason follows from the fact that peers form a group. Being together with a group of likeminded peers should intensify some of the emotions children experience.” (Salisch, 2001) The group they formed was a good social experience for them. Without the group I think the boys would not have gone on to do great things if they had not had the
Witvliet, M., Olthof, T., Hoeksma, J. B., Goossens, F. A., Smits, M. I., & Koot, H. M. (2010). Peer Group Affiliation of Children: The Role of Perceived Popularity, Likeability, and Behavioral Similarity in Bullying. Social Development, 19(2), 285-303. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2009.00544.x
Gianluca Gini performed an experiment testing how students perception of a bullying episode may be influenced by ingroup bias. Four hundred and fifty five children read a story where the ingroup rule and teacher likeability were manipulated. Participants
Social influence/peer groups were one of the dominant themes in my observations, survey, and literature. Social influence looks at how individual thoughts, actions and feelings are influenced by social groups (Aronson, 2010).The desire to be accepted and liked by others can lead to dangerous behavior. College life can be an overwhelming experience for first time college students and or transfer students as they struggle to manage class time and social activities in an attempt to fit-in in the new environment that they may not be used to. Students can experience too much anxiety and drop out of college or fall behind classes. Working at the Cambell Student Union information Center, I observed a great deal of students falling into this trap of social influence and peer pressure. A female student tripped as she was going up the stairs to Spot Coffee but did not fall. What appears to be a group of guys who are not popular (guys who are not very well known), were seating where popular students normally seat. The group of guys started laughing at the girl and stopped. One guy kept laughing, but it was obvious he was forcing the laughter as to purposely attract attention. He started making jokes about the girl and carrying on the laughter so he would appear to be funny. Another example, which portrays peer influence, involves parties over the weekend. Multiple students stated they were falling behind in classes on the grounds of their friends wanted to go out the night before and they did not want to seem/appear “lame” so they tagged along. The influence of a group is intensified by the person’s desire to be an accepted member of the peer group. To achieve this desire he tries to conform in everyday to the patterns approved by the grou...
In the early years of children, issues of challenging behaviors are bound to surface due to the people in their environment such as peers and the teachers. With the focus steered towards the age group of 4 to 5 years olds, this essay discusses how peers and teachers can encourage the challenging behaviour of antisocial; the presence of antisocial (E.g. angry, destructive, or defiant) behavior and the absence of prosocial (E.g. communicative or compliant) behavior.
Since the child was expected to follow the rules if he desired to play with the other children then he had to abide to the rules of the game SED 4: Relationships and Social Interactions with Peers. Having the ability to work together with other students (possibly negotiate) is a great step in the child’s social developments. Another group of preschoolers-kindergarteners (possibly 4-6 yrs) Group B were supporting one another as they were attempting to climb over a barrier. The motives behind Group B’s play were unclear, however the children could have been engaged in the sociodramtic play aspect of the Piagetian Theory. This group of children could have been pretending to be knights that needed to “escape from the dragon” SED 5: Symbolic and Sociodramatic Play, ATL-REG 5: Engagement and
A child 's way of responding to other kids at a school setting is depended upon the amount of exposure the kid has had in the future. If a child wasn’t given the opportunity they might not have the ability to make friends as fast as other kids who have been exposed to meeting new people. The other perspective is that the kids who have had the exposure now go about making friends and start forming cliques. So, now they come to school with beliefs and values they’ve learned from growing up in their household, which influences how they be a friend or even be friendly towards other children. A child 's development can be impacted in schools and by peer groups when bullying takes place. Whether the child is the victim or not. This now brings forth the influence of mass media on the development of humans. Social media has an impact because there 's a model of what society views as “popular” or “cool”. So, the way we dress, talk, and even write has an influence on our development. Even though we ultimately have the free will to do as we please, society still guides us in our thoughts. It guides us to agree or even go against what society tells
In these observations, I had observed the social cognitions of the target child between teachers and peers. The result is the target child is not good at social relationships with peers, but she would like to get along with teachers that she listens to teachers and follows the rule well. The target child preferred to play with her peers, but every time she tried to get close to her peers, she stood there, listen for a minute or shorter, and then left. She might not know how to join their conversation since her peers did not talk to her when she was with them. The teachers would talk and ask her what to do and what she was doing, then she would like to share her ideas and get close to teachers. The hypothesis of this observation that I created is every child is afraid to be alone that they would
Hopefully this observation can give some insight of the preschool age group. Although this was only a sample, perhaps some conclusions can be drawn on the development and behavior of these children.
... instead of following the majority. The issue of peer pressure can relate to teens, as they are in constant pressure to be ‘cool’ or to be in the ‘in’ group. It does not really promote individualism, so people cannot develop their own ideas but rather follow the leader of their group.
Teenagers become caught up with following peers, because the decision is made to become involved in experimental activities by choice. On the other hand, peer pressure in teens can allow mature growth in the student, because the individual can them become a leader within an environment in a positive manner. According to kidshealth.org, “Getting to know lots of different people-
As children get older they seem to spend a lot more time with their friends, and a whole lot less time with their parents. Therefore what their friends say and do rub off on them, or they start to adopt what their friends do as right or routine. Even though they have been taught most of their lives that it was wrong, or they were taught what was right. They adapt a new style of clothes and a new vocabulary, mostly slang. And they get new hobbies and new tastes in music, friends have a big impact on all these things.
For some people peer pressure may come from you directly, this may be because you are feeling different than everyone else even if they are not suggesting you join. Other times groups of friends can have certain activities and habits they do together. If you find that hanging out with people who tend to do things you wouldn't normally do and you feel unaccepted unless you follow through, "get out" so you don't fall into the pressure to "fit in"