Every human is an embodiment of different kind of influence, which begins from parental nurturing, environment e.t.c every kind of opinion outside our thinking that seems to have effect on our behaviour, attitude or thinking pattern is considered an element of influence. It all comes in different kind of ways, though we might not fully acknowledge a source of influence till will discover how much hold it has on our mind. No one is an island of knowledge which means we are all bound to learn from something, probably from what we see others doing or what we read. Which means actions can not be said to be truly ours since some factors prompted us to act and think in a specific way.
One of the most common group that is known to have a significant amount of influence on people's behavioural pattern most especially youths is peer group. We all originate from a particular sector in the society and every society is made up of people who socialise based on a degree of similarities which could be culture or most especially individuals with same demographic figure most importantly age. It is a natural thing among humans for us to roam with those we consider to be equal to us and this habit of socialising based on belonging to the same category is what makes up a peer group.
The dominance of peer group over individual behavioural pattern is something that has been occuring since the birth of time, which means a group of individual roaming together are bound to have the same mindset and act in similar patterns. Just like animals that roam in packs, every individual wouldn't want to act in a way that would make them become segregated from their peers, In other to maintain this connection we find ourselves doing things that people in our circle are doing. Which means people that belongs to a particular circle are also bound to have similar habits either good or bad in which serves as their identity. E.g a group of smokers, nerds e.t.c that is where the common parable originates from, birds of same feathers, flocks together.
This acceptability of an habit or act among peer groups might not necessarily be forced but not entirely voluntarily, every individual in the circle just feel obligated to the things their peers are doing in order not to be left out, this form of influence on a person's mind is known as Peer pressure and individuals with the habit of always wanting to belong or being recognised as part of a specific group always find themselves doing all kinds of things most negative for the sake of being recognised which eventually results to constantly acting out of character or doing things without a specific purpose.
In the modern era, peer pressure is a little bit modernised since it seems like everyone thinks they are doing what they really want to do without being influenced by any external factors which is definitely untrue. Unlike the radical way of belonging in a peer group in those days. In today's society, demographic variables has widened beyond age, culture, gender, e.t.c which means individuals without any form of similarities in terms of backgrounds can also form peer groups but something still remains the element of similarities. Which means we have colleagues, partners, friends e.t.c forming up peer groups and gearing towards a particular purpose. Peer pressure or peer influence is quite strange because even loners belong to a specific circle knowing or unknowingly.
With all that being said, Do I think that there are some instances when peer pressure can be a good thing? Just like I have explained earlier peer pressure is not only negative, which means it can also have positive effects. For instance there are cases whereby individuals are seen to perform extraordinarily in their lives due to belonging to a particular peer group. A group of students who are bound to always perform extraordinarily in class will definitely be a source of pressure for anyone in their group with a declining grade, in order for the person to remain a recognised member of that group he/she would have to perform extraordinarily. It might seem like a source of pressure but it is the type that provokes a person to do something positive.
Have you ever feel pressured to do something and it turns out to be something good?Definitely!!! Like I said earlier no one is immune to influence but we have the capacity to choose what kind of influence we accept and the outcome of it. In my own case I have been some kind of loner all my life, I prefer to do things on my own and get desired results. Working with people always feel too crowded or problematic beyond my control. It is always difficult for me to work with things I can't predict you can say I'm the type that is mostly carefully with what I consider to be unknown, frankly speaking only what is known is safe.
For a person like me I'm a creature of habit and I'm also led by my curiosity which prompts me to learn new things, I have never been the type of person to do things for recognition, I like to act freely without being shackled by the need to be acknowledged. I do things without the thought of being rewarded it feels pleasant to me this way. Throughout my academic life I did a lot of good stuff like helping a friend or colleague especially when it has to do with academics, I never felt disturbed or burdened by it seems it something that is of my own will.
Have you ever done things without thought of being rewarded or towards a particular purpose and people feel you should be rewarded? It is what happened when I was in pursuit of my higher national diploma in Mass communication at moshood Abiola Polytechnic. The things I do made me a reputable person among my colleagues and I was mostly considered for project leader in every project i partake in. As time goes on I was being approached by people for departmental position which I declined because I consider it a source of distraction from my academics but despite that this puts me in a Caliber of people who are actually holding a position. I usually roam with our departmental president, class representative e.t.c
From someone who is used to acting how i feel like, saying things I feel like, I mean a free spirited person I became a person that was pressured to act more coordinated. I mean people were starting to consider my words and action as the same as the rest of the people in my circle. I used to be the type to criticize the department publicly and openly but eventually I started doing it in a way that wouldn't cause chaos in my department and also not to affect the people in my circle. Their sense of responsibility and purpose influenced mine which means I had to start doing things not just because I felt like it but because I want to achieve something. I started acting like a leader everyone have always considered me to be.
As a result of this when it was time for my final year project, we were randomly shared and placed under different supervisors. The moment my project supervisor noticed I was among his supervisees he made me his representative. Which means I will be the connection between him and his project supervisees. This is because a project supervisor can't answer the calls of all his supervisees, so he would give an information and I would spread it across his supervisees and if they have any information for him I gather it together and relay it to him. I also schedule appointments between our supervisor and his supervisees any time there is an issue that needs his direct intervention. None of the students questioned my supervisor's decision of making me his representative because they already knew me.
Being a representative of my supervisor earned me lot of pecks and my project process was a lot easier. This made me understand one single fact, as a human you might have the potential of becoming a leader but you also need to have the attitude of a leader by acting more coordinated. I learnt this from the circle of friends I roamed with though I'm still a free spirited person but in a little bit controlled manner, I mean when you realise the words you say influences people and means a lot to them you become careful about the kind of information you disclose to them even if it means telling partial truth, it is the burden every leader must shoulder.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled "The good pressure" in hive learners community.
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