Meaning of peer pressure in English

peer pressure

noun [ U ]

/ˈpɪə ˌpreʃ.ər/ us

/ˈpɪr ˌpreʃ.ɚ/

(UK also peer group pressure)

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the strong influence of a group, especially of children, on members of that group to behave as everyone else does:

There is tremendous peer pressure to wear fashionable clothes.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Power to control

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(Definition of peer pressure from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

peer pressure | American Dictionary

peer pressure

noun [ U ]

/ˈpɪər ˌpreʃ·ər/

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the pressure that you feel to behave in a certain way because your friends or people in your group expect it:

There is tremendous peer pressure among teenagers to dress a certain way.

(Definition of peer pressure from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

peer pressure | Business English

peer pressure

noun [ U ]

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→ peer group pressure

(Definition of peer pressure from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of peer pressure

peer pressure

Obviously here a whole range of stimuli played a part : charismatic preaching, peer pressure, the example of a family member or social superior.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In addition, youth in the behavioral risk group were more likely to report negative peer pressure than were youth in the optimal group.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Such an atmosphere also created the type of tacit peer pressure that made deviance from the norm more difficult.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In society today, pressures to conform are stifling and are especially felt at school levels where peer pressure can have distinct disadvantages.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The emotional risk group might benefit from interventions that enhance parent-child relationships, improve self-worth, and increase resistance to negative peer pressure.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Unfortunately, no research to date has directly assessed such susceptibility as a concurrent marker of adolescents' deviant behavior or responses to peer pressure.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Fourth and finally, this study focused entirely upon early adolescence, a period during which peer pressure is believed to be still increasing sharply.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

They are often encumbered by external constraints in the form of peer pressure, poverty, and impairing social circumstances.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Perceptions of peer pressure, peer conformity dispositions, and self-reported behavior among adolescents.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

This peer pressure may be translated to the parents, who may buy the child the appropriate "designer labeled" item.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A commitment to different peer groups leads to different types of peer pressure and motivation, which shape language use.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Yet we tend to defend what we received, following habit, group loyalty, and peer pressure.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

It was impossible for them to ignore the peer pressure of the more visibly devout who insisted on praying in class.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Both models contained as predictors the measures of negative relations and support from both parents and friends, youths' numbers of broken intimate relationships, and perceived level of peer pressure.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In addition, the emotional risk group reported the most negative peer pressure, and the behavioral risk group reported a greater tendency than most other youth to make decisions by themselves.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

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These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

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