When you're growing up one of the most difficult and confusing things that you have to deal with is how you interact with your peers and friends. Whether you're living in modest townhome or in the luxury row of condos downtown, if you attend school then there will be some element of peer pressure to deal with. This is not always a bad thing as friends and classmates can encourage people to do good things as well as those things that you probably shouldn't.

Peer pressure is defined as an influence when it comes to behavior, values, or attitudes that is brought on by a peer group. When most people think about it the first thing that comes to mind is being pressured into doing things like smoking or cutting class when you're a teenager. These are definitely good examples but it is certain that you will encounter all kinds of peer pressure in your lifetime. You may encounter pressure to buy the same clothing or shoes as your friends or feel it necessary to go to the same university. And it starts at a much earlier age then people might think.

The first time that a child really experiences peer pressure is from their family. You might have the most loving and supportive environment of all, but it is still very likely that you have pressured your children into doing things like speak, read or even get potty trained. If your children have siblings then there is sure to be some pressure in the relationship there as well. This is something that a person cannot escape in their lifetime and the key to dealing with it is knowing when you are hearing something that you should listen to and when it is something that you should ignore.

Everyone has their own morals when it comes to how they deal with their friends and when they are dealing with their clients at work, for example. When you're dealing with someone telling you that you should do something you should remember that what you believe is often more important then what they are telling you that you should do. This can be as simple as someone telling you that you should steal a candy bar when you are a child to someone who believes that nothing comes for free. School students to business investors, need to make their own decisions taking into account all sorts of different opinions. If you stick to your own moral code and do not cave in to others whims for fear of being left out, you can never go wrong.