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| Stress Caused By Peer Pressure And Physical Appearance In Adolescents, Across Gender And Socio-Economic Status | |||||||
| Paper Id :
17749 Submission Date :
07/06/2023 Acceptance Date :
12/06/2023 Publication Date :
15/06/2023
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| Abstract | The present study was undertaken to know the causes of stress due to peer pressure and physical appearance among adolescents, so for the purpose a complete sample of three hundred adolescents from 6 schools of Lucknow district were arbitrarily chosen, whereby one hundred fifty boys and one hundred fifty girls were further selected for this study. Hundred fifty boys & equal number of girls were further divided into fifty respondents belonging to lower, middle and higher Socio-economic status. For the study self developed questionnaire and Socio-economic scale by Kuppu swami was used. It was noted that most of the male and female adolescents from the entire socio-economic group were frequently suffering from the stress caused by peer pressure and physical appearance. | ||||||
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| Keywords | Adolescents, socio-economic status, gender, stress, peer pressure, physical appearance | ||||||
| Introduction | Adolescence is characterized
by physical maturation of the brain and body, giving rise to intense
psychological and physical changes. |
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| Aim of study | 1. To study the stress
caused by peer pressure among male and female adolescents from different
socio-economic status. 2. To find out the stress
caused by physical appearance among male and female adolescents from different
socio-economic status. |
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| Review of Literature | Adolescence is the most
common time of life for psychiatric illness to emerge (Kessler et al., 2005), with reported anxiety reaching its lifetime
peak (Abe & Suzuki, 1986). The
effect of daily stressors can be particularly harmful to the psychological and
physiological wellbeing of young people (Yahav & Cohen, 2008). Spirito et
al. (1991) found four main stressful domains in their research on young people
that was school, siblings, parents and friends. Increasing academic pressure,
siblings and parental conflicts, peer pressure and romantic relationship
problems were the main issues children encountered daily (Spirito et al.,
1991). Persike and Seiffge-K renke (2012) conducted a multicultural analysis of
adolescent stressors and found that academic achievement and parental control
were of most concern, whilst anxiety about peers and relationships was less
than expected. Similar to de Anda et al. (2000) and Spirito et al. (1991),
Persike and Seiffge-Krenke (2012) found that adolescents were very much
concerned about school, future employment and further education. Comparisons of
these studies indicate that time have not significantly altered the types of
stressors adolescents experience. In modern
society, young and old may experience the emotion of being stressed. During
adolescence, the levels of stress increase significantly (Hampel, et al. 2008). The adolescents during this period
of maturation are exposed to profound stressors and based on their personality
traits and protective factors they are able to mediate between these stress and
coping behavior, but in others it may be a period of instability and adjustment
difficulties. This instability may become one of the risks for going ahead
towards ending the life or committing suicide. |
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| Methodology |
The present study was conducted in Lucknow city, drawing sample from the six schools of the city. The sample for the study was collected adopting stratified random sampling technique. The sample for the study consisted of 300 adolescents of class 7 to12 between the age group of 12-18 years, studying in co-educational Senior Secondary schools belonging to lower, middle and upper socio-economic groups. A total sample of 300 adolescents was selected, wherein 150 boys and 150 girls were selected for the present study. Hundred fifty boys & equal number of girls were further divided into 50 respondents each belonging to lower, middle and upper Socio-economic Status. |
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| Tools Used | Self Developed Questionnaire and Socio-economic status scale by Kuppu Swami were administered for data collection. | ||||||
| Result and Discussion |  F= Frequency P = Percentage
Fig: 1.1 Distribution of respondents in reference to their stress caused by peer pressure Table: 1.1 describes the stress caused by peer pressure .It can be seen that most of the male adolescents from middle socio-economic group that is 66 percent were in the support that stress was caused by peer pressure while 38 per cent male from lower and 36 per cent from upper socio-economic group were in the favour of the same statement, 30 per cent female from middle socio-economic group 28 per cent from upper and 14 per cent from lower socio-economic group were also in the favour of the statement that stress is always caused by peer pressure. Majority of the female adolescents from lower socio-economic group i.e. 54 per cent 38 per cent from upper and 32 per cent from middle socio-economic group were in the favour that stress is always caused by peer pressure while36 per cent male from lower, 30 per cent from upper and 16 per cent from the lower socio-economic group were also in the favour of the same statement.28 per cent male from upper 16 from lower and 12 per cent from middle socio-economic group accepted that stress is occasionally caused by peer pressure whereas 36 per cent female from middle 34 per cent from upper and 32 per cent from lower socio-economic group also favoured the statement. No one was in favour that stress is never caused by peer pressure while a very less number of adolescents were in favour that stress is rarely caused by peer pressure. It was observed that most of the male adolescents from middle socio-economic group were in the favoure that stress is frequently caused by peer pressure while female from lower socio-economic group were in the support that stress was always caused by peer pressure. Adolescent boys from middle socio-economic status want to be accepted by their peers by being in the popular groups. They could give more importance to friends than family. They are under constant pressure to dress in a certain way, speak the teen lingo and be ‘cool’. More often than not, all this implies that the teenager has to put aside her true self and pretend to be someone she or he is not, which can be a very stressful experience. Girls from lower socio-economic group also want to do the same but their financial conditions do not allow spending money or time with their peers causes stress. Omizo et.al., (1988) investigates stressors and symptoms in students in the order of frequency, elementary students cited family problems and school problems; junior school students cited general adolescent problems, peer pressure and family problems; and high school students cited the future, school problems and peer pressure. Students identified psychological, physiological, behavioural and emotional symptoms of stress.
F= Frequency P = Percentage
Fig: 1.2 Distribution of respondents in reference to their stress caused by physical appearance Table: 1.2 reveals the distribution of respondents in reference to their stress caused by physical appearance. It was interesting to know that majority of the male adolescents from lower socio-economic group i.e. 44 per cent and 34 per cent each from upper and middle socio-economic group were in the favour that stress is frequently caused by physical appearance while majority of the female adolescents from upper i.e 44 per cent, 38 per cent from middle and 32 per cent from lower socio-economic group also accepted the same statement. 28 per cent male from middle socio-economic group 22 from lower and 18 per cent from upper socio-economic group said that stress is always caused by physical appearance whereas 26 per cent female from lower and middle each and 18 per cent from upper socio-economic group accepted that stress is always caused by physical appearance. Table also shows that 30 per cent male from upper followed by middle and lower socio-economic group i.e 26 and 12 per cent respectively were in the favour that stress is occasionally caused by physical appearance whereas 26 per cent female from middle 24 per cent from upper and 22 per cent from lower socio-economic group were in the favour of the same statement. A less number of adolescents were in the favour that stress is rarely or never caused by physical appearance. Result shows that girls from upper socio-economic group and boys from lower socio-economic status were more physical appearance conscious. Physical changes can also be a cause of stress among teenagers. Adolescents go through some emotional and physical changes which can leave them confused whether their development is normal or not. Lack of knowledge and financial problems in male from lower socio-economic group may be one of the cause while girls from upper socio-economic group feel pressure to look physically attractive is also the cause of stress Gray and Rotttmann,(1988), stated that pressure over academic grades, lack of time to accomplish personal needs, concern over the future, the financial problems, the meaning and purpose of life, the physical appearance and the job opportunities after graduation were most often perceived as stressors among undergraduate college students. |
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| Conclusion |
This study used data from 300 male and female
adolescents from different socio-economic status groups to determine the
factors causing stress in adolescents focusing on the peer pressure and
physical appearance. This study found that girls from upper socio-economic
group and boys from lower socio-economic status were more physical appearance
conscious. It was also observed that most of the male adolescents from middle
socio-economic group were in the favoure that stress is frequently caused by
peer pressure while female from lower socio-economic group were in the support
that stress was always caused by peer pressure. Adolescent boys from middle
socio-economic status want to be accepted by their peers by being in the
popular groups. |
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| References | 1. Abe K, Suzuki T.
(1986).Prevalence of some symptoms in adolescence and maturity: Social phobias,
anxiety symptoms, episodic illusions and ideas of reference. Psychopathology.
1986;19:200–205. [PubMed] |
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