Quote Originally Posted by SpiritLevel
I disagree with some aspects of your opinion and this is why. Having a sense of belonging to a group because of having to conform is like assimilating bad behaviour because everyone else is that way inclined. If someone doesn't know right from wrong, and most people only comprehend this literally, then peer pressure doesn't enable those people to make the right decission for themselves.
Right. People need to think for themselves. But that doesn't mean they can't do what other people are doing in order to belong to a group. Most peer pressure, as I see it, encourages activities which are neither good nor bad in themselves (i.e. skateboarding, using slang, etc.) If what your friends are doing is a bad idea, then sure, don't do it. But I don't see the harm in adopting a societal norm if it doesn't hurt anyone.
They tend to make the decission which provides popularity or comfort or whatever fulfilment one is seeking out of that group. People being forced into the NORM isn't right, it means people aren't free to be who they want to be, thus they are forced. I've been forced, and I've been lost through this encounter, and I am now seeking the truth in the midst of many lies. To become caught up in impressing others and losing oneselve; being a conformists. I see people having a good time doing all kinds of things; the bus driver has a good time scaring passingers by going fast, police have a good time fuckin with peeps. Orite, bus drivers and po po are jobs. But the same peer pressure still goes on in employment as well as in other social group encounters.
But the issue there isn't peer pressure. Bus drivers driving too fast is a safety issue, and policemen harassing people is an abuse of power issue. If someone is doing something unethical out of a desire to belong, it is still their responsibility for doing the wrong thing, and they should be held accountable for that because they chose to do it out of their own free will. But if you actually look at how peers affect people, you'll find that most of the societal norms are completely harmless and in some cases they are even beneficial. Just look at the strong peer pressure in our society against being a racist for example.
Doing as one pleases contradicts peer pressure to some degree; there is often one or two who feel no pressure because they are actually being who they are. Any pressure applied to cause someone to do something means they aren't doing as they please. It means they are under influence. I'm going for a shit fucit
Individuals don't develop in a vacuum. Every person on the face of the earth has had their worldviews and behavioral patterns influenced by their peers. We learn how to act in society by observing how people around us act. Take handshaking for instance. I bet you shake people's hands all the time. Why do you do it? Because that's what your peers do, and it's expected that you do it too. Nobody's forcing you to shake hands, but you do it anyways because you don't want to alienate yourself from the rest of society.

All I'm saying is, don't follow the crowd just for the sake of following the crowd. Think for yourself, and carefully evaluate whether a given societal norm is harmful or not. If it is, don't do it, but if it isn't then there's no compelling reason why it would be wrong if you choose to conform.