The Effects of Peer Pressure on Social Conformity

The urge to be a member of a group, to fit in, and peer pressure can lead to many unexpected and unwanted repercussions. We see evidence of such consequences around us and even within ourselves daily. Social media can easily contribute to this problem by either allowing users to present their lives as something they are not, a deceptive representation of their true wants, or by allowing them to express their opinions in a way that denigrates those of others. To examine the link between peer pressure and social conformity, researchers have been studying whether strength of attraction to a group determines degree of conformity. Many studies attest to this hypothesis. This study utilizes 60 participants selected from Belmont University’s students enrolled in Scientific Psychology, General Psychology or Introductory Psychology courses. Students would participate this study under the impression that the study subject was understanding the effects of different type of schooling on long-term retention of information. They were asked to take a short test, during which confederates will attempt to push them to cheat after being explicitly told not to do so. We hypothesized that individuals are more likely to cheat when prompted to do so by their peer and when students are not prompted to cheat, they will not cheat out of fear of disrupting group harmonics. Data collection to test these hypotheses are ongoing, and results will be presented at SURS. The implication of this study allows us to reflect on the choices we make due to peer pressure and to reevaluate whether following the majority is always the right choice

Investigating the Impact of an Innovative Intergenerational Physical Activity Program

There is limited evidence in the current body of literature regarding the implementation of an intergenerational programs that include physical activity as a key component. PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to evaluate an intergenerational program, Grow and Play, with an emphasis in physical activity for older adults and children during an afterschool program at the local community center. METHODS: Eight community-dwelling older adults (mean age: 80.7) and nine children (mean age: 9.77) joined Grow and Play at the Winter Park Community Center for nine weeks for a total of 16 sessions. The Grow and Play protocol consisted of baseline measurements, including fall-risk assessments, a twice-weekly 90-minute intervention over nine weeks, and post-assessments after the intervention was completed. Measures were analyzed via paired t-tests through SPSS using an alpha level of 0.1. RESULTS: The data highlights high feasibility and acceptability for Grow and Play, as well as treatment adherence, fidelity to the program, and session evaluations are outlined. CONCLUSION: This article guides future creation of intergenerational programs by highlighting the importance of physical activity as a main component, but also the ability to improve adherence and benefits of these programs