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Peer pressure’s effects are perhaps more powerful than we thought (2014)

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Re: Peer pressure’s effects are perhaps more powerful than we thought (2014)

#51

Post by ftrflyr »

I drink once in my life. When I was 20. Why? I was interested in what being drunk felt like from a scientific perspective. Upon drinking all the liquor I could find in the house, the room began to spin and I didn't like the feeling of not being in control so I found the nearest couch and passed out.

I often wonder if I am programmed differently than other people. Peer pressure has never really had any effect on me. When people would try to convince me to drink, I would grab a root beer and relish in the joy of drinking something that not only tastes great (not having to acquire a taste for) but did not result in a loss of my inhibitions. (Yes, I am well aware of the argument that sugar and soda are probably far worse than occasionally drinking).

Growing up I often pondered the reasons why people begin drinking: Peer pressure, wanting to fit in, the need to feel cool, etc. None of these things every pushed me in the direction of needing to drink.

Re: Peer pressure’s effects are perhaps more powerful than we thought (2014)

#52

Post by tdfx »

ftrflyr wrote: post #51

I drink once in my life. When I was 20. Why? I was interested in what being drunk felt like from a scientific perspective. Upon drinking all the liquor I could find in the house, the room began to spin and I didn't like the feeling of not being in control so I found the nearest couch and passed out. I often wonder if I am programmed differently than other people. Peer pressure has never really had any effect on me. W…

I'm not a naturally extroverted person, but when I drink I trend more towards that personality type. I spend less time overanalyzing things and I am more engaged with the people around me. In a way it "dumbs me down" and makes me think a bit less, which makes me more social, whereas the completely sober me would sit there lost in my own thoughts.

Re: Peer pressure’s effects are perhaps more powerful than we thought (2014)

#53

Post by Declanomous »

prokes wrote: post #40
Declanomous wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could give people a free drink card before the flight. Problem solved.

I can't understand why this is being downvoted. Declanomous is offering a hypothesis that improves on the original comment of giving away seats. While the impact of buying a drink vs. receiving a drink may differ, and the study only studied "buys", peer pressure works in other ways, too. One could argue that people drinking in the vicinity "pressures" or influences others to drink, so the solution Declanomous provide…

Thanks for backing me up. My experience Southwest is actually what made me think of that. I used my free drink coupon on a flight recently. The person sitting across from me ended up changing their order to a alcoholic beverage as well. It works just as well as purchasing a drink in any case, because you order before you present the coupon.

I suggested a card, such as a gift card, because I suspect watching someone swipe a card has a larger effect than watching someone hand over a printed coupon. It would also work for those back-of-seat infotainment systems that allow you to swipe a card to buy something.

I work in marketing for a non-profit, and I spend a lot of time figuring out how to get people to tell other people they gave to us. I'm sure this is marketing 101. The funny thing is that I probably overthink marketing experiments. I love pouring over data like Gardete did, but most of the other marketing people I know would just use A|B testing. Even though their experimental design makes me shudder, it gets the job done. From the perspective of a middle manager, it doesn't really matter if you understand the solution as long as it works. I think understanding why allows you to build on your successes and failures, but that's a self-serving bias.

Re: Peer pressure’s effects are perhaps more powerful than we thought (2014)

#54

Post by gricardo99 »

quirkot wrote: post #31

"Peer pressure's effects are perhaps more powerful than we thought" only if you've never heard of Stanley Milgram

Unless there's a lesser-known experiment by Stanley Milgram on peer pressure, the most famous one is about "obedience to authority figures"[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

Re: Peer pressure’s effects are perhaps more powerful than we thought (2014)

#55

Post by Declanomous »

Pxtl wrote: post #39
Declanomous wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could give people a free drink card before the flight. Problem solved.

Yes, but then the peer isn't doing the same action the airline wants us to do. Unless the neighbors see the peer buying the drink, I don't think it will work. If I see my neighbor paying for a drink with a voucher, it might make me want a drink, but it might not encourage me to pay for one as much as it would if I saw my neighbor paying for a drink. In fact, the resentment of not having it for free like that other pe…

I generally see the voucher presented after the drink is presented, which in my experience is after everyone in the row has ordered. I suggested a card rather than a paper voucher in an attempt to control for this outcome, since I suspect swiping a gift card is interpreted as a substantially similar action to purchasing something outright.

That being said, I doubt the effect is caused by a single factor. For instance, there is a social stigma against drinking alone, at least in the United States. I'll feel more comfortable drinking if someone else is drinking as well, even if I'm travelling alone.

Re: Peer pressure’s effects are perhaps more powerful than we thought (2014)

#56

Post by stouset »

ftrflyr wrote: post #51

I drink once in my life. When I was 20. Why? I was interested in what being drunk felt like from a scientific perspective. Upon drinking all the liquor I could find in the house, the room began to spin and I didn't like the feeling of not being in control so I found the nearest couch and passed out. I often wonder if I am programmed differently than other people. Peer pressure has never really had any effect on me. W…

> Upon drinking all the liquor I could find in the house, the room began to spin and I didn't like the feeling of not being in control so I found the nearest couch and passed out.

I don't know that evaluating drinking alcohol by getting hammered is really going to lead to a reasonable analysis. Most alcohol consumption is within reason.

> I often wonder if I am programmed differently than other people. Peer pressure has never really had any effect on me. When people would try to convince me to drink, I would grab a root beer and relish in the joy of drinking something that not only tastes great (not having to acquire a taste for) but did not result in a loss of my inhibitions.

It sounds like it has more of an effect on you than you realize, just in the opposite direction. You come across as feeling superior for your choice to not drink alcohol and instead "drink things that taste great" (implying that people drink alcoholic beverages despite disliking the taste) and that "don't result in a loss of inhibitions" (as if this is universally a bad thing). Honestly, it sounds like you started out with your conclusions (alcohol is bad/dumb/whatever) and went out in search of evidence supporting that conclusion ("drinking all the liquor I could find in the house").

People drink alcohol for a variety of reasons. Peer pressure, wanting to fit in, and feeling cool plays roughly zero part in it once you get past high school. People enjoy the flavor of cocktails, liquors, beer, wine, and other alcoholic beverages. People enjoy the "social lubricant" effect of moderate consumption. And yes, people think it's fun to get drunk (news flash: it is, at times!).

If you don't want to drink or don't enjoy drinking, good for you. Do your own thing. But damn do you come across as feeling better than others for making that choice.

Re: Peer pressure’s effects are perhaps more powerful than we thought (2014)

#57

Post by donum »

tdfx wrote: post #52
ftrflyr wrote: post #51

I drink once in my life. When I was 20. Why? I was interested in what being drunk felt like from a scientific perspective. Upon drinking all the liquor I could find in the house, the room began to spin and I didn't like the feeling of not being in control so I found the nearest couch and passed out. I often wonder if I am programmed differently than other people. Peer pressure has never really had any effect on me. W…

I'm not a naturally extroverted person, but when I drink I trend more towards that personality type. I spend less time overanalyzing things and I am more engaged with the people around me. In a way it "dumbs me down" and makes me think a bit less, which makes me more social, whereas the completely sober me would sit there lost in my own thoughts.

Am I right to understand that you think you couldn't behave like this without alcohol?

Even if drugs may help in the short term to act ‚more open’ — everything you do when you're drunk is because of you and not caused by the drug!

Be concious and open and people will be open to you. The world around you is a mirror of yourself!

Re: Peer pressure’s effects are perhaps more powerful than we thought (2014)

#58

Post by gojomo »

bimr wrote: post #43

as @tiglionabbit mentioned, this is priming. The term should be famous now thanks to the books "Thinking Fast and Slow" and "Nudge". Also probably a dose of recency bias. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/psyching-us-...

And yet, perhaps an equally-apt word is infamous, because 'priming' effects appear often among those psychological research results that fail-to-reproduce:

http://www.chronicle.com/article/Power-of-Suggestion/136907/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replication_crisis

Re: Peer pressure’s effects are perhaps more powerful than we thought (2014)

#59

Post by [deleted] »

ftrflyr wrote: post #51

I drink once in my life. When I was 20. Why? I was interested in what being drunk felt like from a scientific perspective. Upon drinking all the liquor I could find in the house, the room began to spin and I didn't like the feeling of not being in control so I found the nearest couch and passed out. I often wonder if I am programmed differently than other people. Peer pressure has never really had any effect on me. W…

[deleted]

Re: Peer pressure’s effects are perhaps more powerful than we thought (2014)

#60

Post by goodJobWalrus »

gricardo99 wrote: post #54
quirkot wrote: post #31

"Peer pressure's effects are perhaps more powerful than we thought" only if you've never heard of Stanley Milgram

Unless there's a lesser-known experiment by Stanley Milgram on peer pressure, the most famous one is about "obedience to authority figures"[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

There is also Asch experiment

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asch_conformity_experiments

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