Encyclopedia of Health and Medicine

250 Human Relations
peer pressure The influences of friends,
acquaintances, colleagues, and co-workers. Peer
pressure may be positive or negative. Though the
common perception of peer pressure is of a childhood
and ADOLESCENCE phenomenon, the attitudes
and actions of others remain influential to varying
degree throughout life. One’s peers—those with
whom a person feels relatively equal—are instrumental
in shaping compliance with societal norms
and behavioral standards. In the workplace peer
pressure becomes the corporate culture, for example.
Peer pressure is also a pivotal component of
the “one for all” dynamic of military training and
performance.
Even in adolescence, a time when individuals
are particularly concerned about fitting in and
behaving the same as everyone else, peer pressure
is more often positive than negative. Friendships,
because they develop from shared interests, often
reinforce values and behaviors that are desirable
within the context of community or family ideals
and expectations.
Peer pressure becomes problematic when it
induces individuals to think and behave in ways
that have negative or adverse consequences.
Negative peer pressure may manifest as experimentation
with ALCOHOL or ILLICIT DRUG USE, criminal
activity, or socially unacceptable attire and
appearance. Such manifestations are most common
in adolescence because it is a time of vulnerability
and searching for self-identity, but it may
occur at any point in life. Corrupt and illegal
actions within corporations, which periodically
become prominent, represent negative peer pressure
as well.
Peer pressure is unavoidable. It is a dynamic
that shapes conformity with group, societal, and
cultural expectations. The key is for individuals to
have a strong enough internal framework of
integrity to know when those expectations are
inappropriate and to be able to stand apart from
them when they are.
See also PROBLEM SOLVING AND CONFLICT RESOLU-
TION; YOUTH HIGH-RISK BEHAVIOR.
problem solving and conflict resolution Skills
and methods to resolve differences between individuals
and among groups. The essence of problem
solving and conflict resolution is to find
common ground—shared values, beliefs, goals,
intentions, and expectations. From such a platform
it is often possible to resolve differences.
There are numerous methodologies for problem
solving and conflict resolution, the appropriateness
of which depends on the setting and
circumstances. Conflicts in the workplace require
a different focus from problems in the classroom
or challenges in the family, even though the
underlying challenges are similar. Regardless of
methodology, there are some basic steps common
to nearly all settings:
• Isolate the problem: What—not who—accounts
for the differences that are creating disagreement
and conflict?
• Establish a common base of expectation for resolution:
What will improve the situation?
• Agree on steps that will move all parties toward
resolution: How will the situation improve?
• Implement the steps, along with a process for
assessing the success of each step.
• Reevaluate: Does the solution solve the problem
or resolve the conflict?
Personalities and personal agendas often get in
the way of objective conflict resolution. It is
important to recognize, however, that it is attitudes,
behaviors, and actions that are responsible
for conflict. These factors are within the ability of
an individual to change. People are more willing
to make changes when they are able to see the
outcome as gaining rather than giving up.
See also ANGER AND ANGER MANAGEMENT; STRESS
AND STRESS MANAGEMENT; WORKPLACE STRESS.