peer group

A peer group is a social group consisting of people. Peer groups are an informal primary group of people who share a similar or equal status and who are usually of roughly the same age, tended to travel around and interact within the social aggregate Members of a particular peer group often have similar interests and backgrounds, bonded by the premise of sameness. However, some peer groups are very diverse, crossing social divides such as socioeconomic status, level of education, race, creed, culture, or religion.

Developmental psychology

Developmental psychologists, Lev Vygotsky, Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson, and Harry Stack Sullivan, have all argued that peer relationships provide a unique context for cognitive, social, and emotional development, with equality, reciprocity, cooperation, and intimacy, maturing and enhancing children's reasoning abilities and concern for others. Modern research echoes these sentiments, showing that social and emotional gains are indeed provided by peer interaction.

Bonding and functions of peer groups

Serve as a source of info.

Peer groups have a significant influence on psychological and social adjustments for group individuals.Peer groups provide perspective outside of individual’s viewpoints. Members inside peer groups also learn to develop relationships with other in the social system. Peers, particularly group members, become important social referents for  teaching members customs, social norms, and different ideologies.

Teaches gender roles.

Peer groups can also serve as a venue for teaching members Gender roles. Through gender-role socialization group members learn about sex differences, social and cultural expectations. While boys and girls differ greatly there is not a one to one link between sex and gender role with males always being masculine and female always being feminine. Both genders can contain different levels of masculinity and femininity. Peer groups like gender roles can consist of all males, all females, or both male and female. Peer groups can have great influence or peer pressure on each other’s gender role behavior depending on the amount of pressure. If a peer group holds to a strong social norm, member will behave in ways predicted by their gender roles, but if there is not a unanimous peer agreement gender roles do not correlate with behavior

Serves as a practicing venue to adulthood.

Adolescent Peer groups provide support for children, and teens as they assimilate into the adult society decreasing dependence on parents, and increasing feeling of self-sufficiency and connecting with a much larger social network. this is “a period in which individuals are expanding their perspective beyond the family how to and learning negotiate relationships with others in the social system. Peers, particularly group members, become important social referents”  Peer groups also have influence on individual member’s attitudes, and behaviors on many cultural, and social issues such as drug use, violence, academic achievement and even the development and expression of prejudice.

Teaches unity & collective behavior

Peer Groups “ provide an influential social setting in which group norms are developed, and enforced through socialization processes that promote within-group similarity. Peer groups cohesion is determined, and maintained by such factors as group Communication, Group consensus, and Group conformity concerning attitude and behavior. As members of peer groups interconnect, and agree, a normative code arises. This Normative code can become very rigid deciding group behavior, and dress. Peer group individuality is increased by normative codes, and intergroup conflict. Member Deviation from the strict normative code can lead to rejection from the group.

Gender differences

Male

Male peer groups tend to display more assertive behavior and independence. Male peer groups also tend to display more antagonistic behavior than girls. Status hierarchies develop within Males peer groups having members vie for position for a time, but eventually a stable hierarchy is established reducing intragroup conflict. Many Adolescent male peer groups use homophobic behavior (e.g., using homophobic epithets or making homophobic statements) to assert masculinity and identify inappropriate behavior among group members.

Female

Female peer group members often feel greater investments in their social relationships than Males. Because of this investment female peer groups place a greater importance on group affiliation. This need of affiliation also leads females to dissent less and be more conforming to peer group norms compared to males. Status hierarchies are also formed in female groups, but often denied by group members . The great value placed on group membership also causes female groups to be more exclusive and resistant to new members after the group has been set. Furthermore, females great investments in social relationships tends to lead to more positive interactions than those of males.

Peer pressure

The term peer pressure is often used to describe instances where an individual feels indirectly pressured into changing their behavior to match that of their peers. Taking up smoking and underage drinking are two of the best known examples. In spite of the often negative connotations of the term, peer pressure can be used positively.

(source:wikipedia)