Peer Pressure is a Tide, Not a Bully

When I was in middle school my teachers told me my friends would try to blackmail me into drinking. They called it “peer pressure” and told me to beware the horrible consequences. “Drink this beer or I won’t be friends with you.” I waited for my friends to hold our friendship hostage in exchange for getting me hopelessly addicted to alcohol. But it never happened. What gives?

In real life, peer pressure is sneaky. It’s nothing as obvious as an ultimatum, a bribe, or an older kid in a leather jacket. Studies in psychology reveal that we have a strong subconscious desire to fit in, to seek social approval, and to mirror the behavior of people with high social status. Peer pressure isn’t a fork in the road, it’s a tide gently pulling you and everyone around you toward the most influential group. Peer pressure isn’t your friends out to get you, it’s falling asleep on a raft and waking up a mile from shore – sometimes you don’t even notice the change until you look back to where you started.

When it comes to alcohol, things get a little trickier. Social desirability isn’t only based on majority rules – if that were the case, high risk drinkers would feel the pressure to cut back in order to match the vast majority of students who drink more sensibly. Furthermore, because students tend to over-estimate the amount the typical student drinks, there is a social pressure to drink more in order to fit into this imaginary majority of heavy drinkers. Combine this false perception with the alcohol industry’s multi-billion dollar marketing campaign and it’s easy to see just how strong this invisible force can be.

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