Why does our generation feel the need to all be the same? Peer pressure.

A graphic about peer pressure (Mia Landaverde/The Puma Prensa)

By Mia Landaverde, staff writer 

We are no strangers to the world of expectations. Society has built the idea of the “picture perfect person,” and humanity has run with it for as long as anyone can remember. There are endless issues to fix, examples to look up to, and futures to fulfill, but life will only work out if you do everything like everyone else. Day by day. Step by step. Word by word. 

When we think of peer pressure, there lies the obvious examples: drinking, smoking, drugs. Those are the things teenagers aren’t ever supposed to do, but peer pressure branches beyond the stereotypical ideas that the media has planted in the human brain. 

The idea of peer pressure has a broad definition: it is to be influenced by peers or people around you. However, the “influence” does not only apply to certain choices made in a sudden situation, but also to choices made with long term consequences. Influence can change anything, if not everything, we do on a daily basis. This pressure can stem from several different factors, including societal expectations. 

The concept of societal expectations is self-explanatory. Again, we’re no strangers to them, but what we fail to recognize is the way they impact parts of our lives. Peer pressure isn’t always loud; in fact, it rarely is. It barely announces itself. The feeling of uncertainty when seeing posts on social media, watching celebrities on TV screens, and watching classmates interact is all pressure. This feeling leaves the urge to do one thing: fit in. 

How? The thing about peer pressure is that it’s mainly driven by a single thing: influence. If you’re influenced enough by the things you see, and you change according to that influence, you’ve fallen victim. Feeling the need to change in order to fit in is peer pressure. Whether it’s changing your style, your habits, or the way you interact with the people around you, you’ve been influenced. You’ve been pressured. That’s the brutally honest truth. 

With influence comes pressure, and with pressure comes change. Good or bad. According to Centerstone, 90% of teenagers have reported experiencing peer pressure and being influenced to make decisions that impact their physical or mental health. This goes to show just how often peer pressure really occurs, and it can explain a lot of the impact made on other life aspects, such as relationships, attitude, stability, and passions. 

Peer pressure can negatively affect so much in anyone’s life. Pressure can influence which relationships to get rid of or keep. Pressure can influence the way we think about ourselves. Pressure can change the goals we strive for, the passions we follow. More often than not, we see the idea of all being alike eat at our stability and disrupt the ways we think. High school is a place where pressure and influence shows up the most, and we see it. We know it’s there. So why can’t we fight it? Why can’t it go away?  

There’s not a simple answer to give. Pretending peer pressure isn’t a thing won't eliminate it from our social life. It’s a concept, a social construct. We’ve accepted it for what it is, and follow its footsteps to become who we are. Peer pressure is what keeps everyone from being themselves, and what encourages everyone to try to be the same. Every day, every night, every minute. We face an idea of “normal” which is so widely accepted, and are taught that anything straying away from it is wrong. Unlikeable. Bad. 

However, it doesn’t mean we can’t avoid it. Facing it, testing the expectations, and being yourself will always be the best choice. Don’t let the pressure get to you, don’t be influenced. Easier said than done, I know, but trust me. Once we get the hang of it, everything starts feeling just a bit easier.  

Even starting simple, like doing things you love and not things people around you are doing, can help you de-influence yourself. Listen to the music you enjoy, pick up the hobby you’ve always wanted to try, dive back into your old interests, let yourself cringe at dumb things. This is living, and it’s real. The joy one feels starts to disappear once peer pressure starts to take over, so don’t stop because you feel like you need to. Keep that part of you alive. 

I know how it feels. It feels good to be authentic. True. Allow yourself to feel authentic, and everything will just be a bit easier.