Olson1

JuliaOlson
RWW9,Class1
Ms.Bartz
May23,2016
PeopleMimicEachOther,ButWeArentChameleons
Itsconfusingtothinkaboutthatifit'stheparentsinfluenceonteensorifits
reallytheirfriendswhoareaffectingtheiridentity.Childrentypicallychoosetheirfriends
bywhattheydo,andiftheyrelikethemornot.Kidstendtomakedecisionsbasedupon
whattheirfriendsaredoing.Otherscontinuetothinkthatitstheirparentsthatinfluence
them.Teenstendtomimicandfollowintheirfriendsfootstepsandspendtimewith
themindifferentways.Thereforthebiggestcontributingfactorincreatingsomeone's
identityistheinfluenceteensfriendstendtohaveonthem.
Howonedecidestospendtheirtimewiththeirfriendsisabigcontributor.Iftheir
akidwhostayshomeontheweekendsandcomeshomestraightafterschool,typically
theyarentgoingtogetintobadhabits,unlessitswiththehelpoftheirfriendsinfluence.
AccordingtoKaylaGuo,fromStatesman,friendsgenerallyplayaroleinshapingthe
behaviorandbeliefsofanindividualthroughparentexpectationsorpeerpressure.
Teensfollowthepathsoftheirfriends.Peerpressurefromfriendsmakethemdothings
theynormallywouldnt.Teensfeelthatiftheydontdowhattheirfriendssay,theymight
notfitin.
MitchPrinstein,directorofclinicalpsychologyattheUniversityofNorth
Carolina,studiedthetypeofinfluencesateensfriendshaveonthem:Teenswhose
friendssmoke,drinkorusedrugs,anexampleofthisistherearemorelikelytoindulge


Olson2

inthesebehaviorsthemselves.Nopersonisimmunefromtheinfluenceofpeopleand
groupstheyencounter.Whenteensadapttotheirfriendsenvironmentsithelpsthem
definethemselves.Bybeingintheirfriendsenvironmentsitgivesthemthecomfortof
acceptanceandapprovalfromtheirfriends.
Teenstypicallyliketofolloweachother'sfootstepsandmimiceachother.They
wanttodowhattheirfriendsaredoingsotheycanfitin.Astudythatwaspublishedin
FebruarybytheJournalofEarlyAdolescenceshowedthatfriendshipscanalsomake
thedifferencebetweengoodandbadgradesatschool.ResearchersatOregon
Universitytookasurveyof1,200middleschoolers,andhadthemwritedowntheirthree
bestfriends.Thesurveyshowedthatthefriendsthatwerepronetomisbehaving,ledto
themnotdoingaswellinschool.Itisclearthattheotherstudentswhoweresocially
activeinapositiveway,suchasparticipatinginschoolsportsandcompletingtheir
homeworkontime,aretheperfectexampleofapositiveinfluence.Theyaffecttheir
friendsbysettingupaperfectexampleofwhattheyshouldbedoing.Friendsarethe
onespushingeachothertotheirlimits.Itscommonforpeopletopickuponeach
othersmovements.SashaOndobakaoftheDondersInstituteforBrain,stated,Thisis
thenotionthatwhenyourehavingaconversationwithsomebodyandyoudontcare
whereyourhandsare,andtheotherpersonscratchestheirhead,youscratchyour
head.Teenswanttoimitatetheirpeersandbelikethem.Theyarelookingforwaysto
separatefromtheirfamiliesanddefinethemselvesastheirownindividual.Ifaperson's
friendsarerudetheywillmostlikelyberudeaswell.Teensmimicthesameattitudes
thattheirfriendshave.


Olson3

Somepeoplebelievethatitistheparentswhoinfluencetheirchildrenthemost.
However,typicallyteensdontspendmostoftheirtimewiththeirparents.Whenachild
isolderandstartsmakingmoredecisionsforthemselvesiswhentheyarearoundother
peopletheirage.Parentssettherulesforthemtofollow.Thefriendsthatteenshave
arenttheoneskeepingthemfromgoingoutontheweekend,itstheirparents.Parents
dontgetthemtotrydrugs,itstheirfriends.Theteenageyearsareanexperimental
timeandkidswanttotrynewthingswiththepeopletheyarearoundmostandfeelthe
mostcomfortablewith.Asaresult,withtheirgrowingindependenceanddistancefrom
theirparentsduringthisdevelopingtime,theteenagesthatarearoundthemhavethe
mostimpactontheirdailylivesandchoices.
Ifpeopledonotchoosetheirfriendswisely,theywillnothavethebestoutcome
ofanidentityorreputation.Theywillnotbewellliked,andotherswillfindithardtotrust
them.Peoplestarttoresembletheirfriends,andtheyalsostarttogetthesamelabels
asthem.Ifpeoplesfriendsareknownasnontrustworthyorunreliable,peoplewillstart
tothinkthesameofthem.


Olson4

WorksCited

Ulene,Valerie."ATeen'sFriendsAreaPowerfulInfluence."
LosAngelesTimes
.Los
AngelesTimes,
11Apr.2011.Web.07Apr.2016.
Guo,Kayla."HowDoFamily,PeersInfluenceUs?"
Statesman
.Web.13Apr.2016.
Yocco,Victor."SocialInfluence:IncorporatingSocialIdentityTheoryIntoDesign
SmashingMagazine."
SmashingMagazine
.25July2014.Web.14Apr.2016.