What is the term for the influence that a peer group has to force or persuade its members to conform to norms and values?

• A. Social Learning
• B. Peer Influence
• C. Peer Pressure
• D. Conformity

Answer: (C)

Peer pressure is the forceful or persuasive influence that a peer group uses to push members to align their behavior, beliefs, and values with the group’s norms. This fits the idea of aiming to make someone conform, whether through direct pressure like teasing or exclusion, or through the stronger desire to belong and be accepted. It’s the mechanism at work, while conformity is the outcome—the actual change in behavior to match the group. Other terms describe related ideas but not the specific push to conform: social learning is about learning by watching others, peer influence covers influence in general, and conformity is the end result of such pressures.