Can Peer Pressure Be Positive?

By Violet Owens for YouBeauty.com

Can’t stop lusting after this season’s hottest “it” bag? A new study says it’s not your fault because baby, you were born this way.

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed how we’re strongly influenced by social environments and the ways in which we alter our behavior to fit in and elevate our ranking within the group. (This is most obvious when it comes to sexual competition, where the incentive to be perceived as the alpha male results in -- ding, ding, ding! -- winning a mate.)

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In the study, the researchers found that people were more likely to take risks and engage in competitive behavior when all of their friends were watching rather than when they were flying solo.

So we wondered, does this apply to fashion and beauty risks as well? Pressure to look a certain way and compare yourself to others is certainly a result of this biological behavior, according to Giorgio Coricelli, Ph.D., one of the study’s researchers and an assistant professor of neuroeconomics at the University of Southern California. And that's not necessarily such a bad thing -- if you're aware of it, at least.

"Upward comparisons are motivated by self-improvement [improving one’s own abilities], which aims at enhancing social status, while the opportunity to compare with a less fortunate other enhances subjective well-being," explains Coricelli. "From the 'Social Comparison Theory,' we derive the insight that individuals use the comparison with others to evaluate their own opinion and abilities. Hence, individuals have an incentive to gather and process this information."

But going on a comparison quest can backfire when the superficial stakes are raised, such as when a person is conveying their status through, say, a boob job or a Louis Vuitton bag, which as Coricelli points out, is costly and therefore not easily mimicked.

In other words, comparing yourself to the Joneses can be positive if it results in self-improvement, but it’s not so productive if it simply makes you feel like a chump. But hey, just being armed with the knowledge that you're hardwired to think along these lines (if it stops you from breaking the bank on an expensive designer bag just to keep up) is a good start.

Comments

[Steven Barnes]

08:11 AM on 10/03/2011

Of course it can. In fact, I think most peer pressure is at least survival-oriented, and much of it (especially if you perform in team sports) is excellence- oriented. Eventually, the people you associate with become part of your mental "inner community" of voices representing your values and beliefs...so be careful which peers you choose!

www.diamondhour.com

[Erewhon7]

12:47 PM on 09/27/2011

I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "where's the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.

[Erewhon7]

12:46 PM on 09/27/2011

Substitute the term "peer pressure" with "community validated modality of acceptable behavior."

Problem solved.

[french queen13]

08:50 PM on 09/22/2011

"In the study, the researchers found that people were more likely to take risks and engage in competitive behavior when all of their friends were watching rather than when they were flying solo."

Someone needed to do a study to see this? Holy hell, go to a school. Or a pub. Isn't it bleeding obvious when you see people acting like complete idiots in a group, doing things they'd never contemplate alone?

If peer pressure means "be like us, like what we like, don't do things the herd doesn't approve of" then it can too often be totally negative. If it means things like "picking on other people is totally wrong and we don't approve" then that would be another matter.

[HerrMonk]

02:01 PM on 09/21/2011

I'm glad these things are getting talked about.

Too many words and concepts have become "dirty", especially in the liberal-PC community, when really it's the harmful application of them that's bad: they are not categorically negative.

Peer pressure is a good thing when it leads people to act well, build relationships and be healthier. There is a positive role for peer pressure to play.

Discrimination is another one of those concepts that's been made 'dirty' and intentionally conflated with concepts of racism, homophobia, exe.

[Calculator]

10:27 AM on 09/21/2011

Peer pressure is good if a person is running a cult.