Peer pressure is the force an individual or a group exerts on another to influence that person to change their behavior, attitude, or morals. It can be a time when a person feels threatened about securing their personal relationships or a necessity to create an identity for themselves. Ballie, Lovato, Johnson, & Kalaw’s 2005 study found the following: The pressure to conform is often stimulated by the longing for social acceptance. It is likely the reason why majority of teenagers are prone to experiencing a cigarette for the sake of fitting in with their peers. Nasrabadi, Parasyekta, & Emami (2004) have suggested that young people will smoke as a method of interaction with others via modeling and conditioning their relationships. Many kids would rather imitate a behavior than be scolded by friends for unwillingness to comply. For some individuals, when the opportunity arises, peer pressure is a time to prove his or her worthiness, especially, for those who are involved in weaker group relationships. In a 1999 study directed by Alexander, Allen, Crawford, & McCormick they suggest, “Males were more likely than females to describe experiences involving peers exerting strong messages to conform to smoking behaviors” (para. 2). In general, it has been found that teenagers who associate with friends that smoke are more likely to become regular smokers themselves (Nasrabadi et al.).

Cigarettes may be a way to shape, define, and create an idenity for what a person looks like in their personal relationships. Because adolescence is the stage of establishing stable identities, any substance, including cigarettes could have an influential effect of marginalization. It is quite common that a teenage boy or a girl will accept a cigarette in order to create an identity. From my observations alone, young males have voiced to me before about their enjoyment for smoking because it makes them feel macho or cool. Likewise, adolescent females have commented that smoking makes them feel grown-up or sexy.

There is some sense of sexual allure teenagers derive from smoking. “When one lights up another’s cigarette the two people become close physically during that act (e.g. lips to hand that lights the cigarette)” (Sussman, 2003, para. 2). The act of inhaling and exhaling smoke may be sexually alluring to some people (Sussman). In Sussman’s 2003 study, he further acknowledges about smoking: Cigarette smoking often has been associated with sexual allure. Symbolic uses of the cigarette to suggest sexual behavior, the ritual of smoking a cigarette after termination of a sexual episode, the concept that cigarette smoking makes one more attractive physically (e.g. more thin), or more available (more willing), have permeated Western society for years. (para. 1) Likewise, the way some adolescence might find cigarette smoking to be sexy, others associate the smoking persona as risky behavior because it exerts a sense of rebellion.

The role of the media is powerfully influential in mediating youth smoking. The amount of advertising that goes into cigarettes is phenomenal. In 1997, the tobacco industry spent an astronomical $9 billion dollars to promote its products in newspapers, magazines, and transit (Wakefield, Flay, Nichter, & Giovino, 2003). Furthermore, $0.7 billion was spent on sponsoring cigarette brands and promotional items in the form of Marlboro T-shirts within the same year (Wakefield, Flay, Nichter, & Giovino). Tobacco companies continuously promote through sponsorship of sporting events and concerts that attracts thousands of young viewers every year (Enotes, 2007). With the amount of time and investment put into this industry, tobacco companies utilize clever marketing tactics to flourish their business. The tobacco companies produce attractive images for buyers to consume their products. Brand name, packaging, promotions, and advertising are carefully manipulated to achieve the greatest sales. Marketing tactics employ specific strategies such as a cool, smoking, fun-loving cartoon camel for Camel cigarettes (Enotes, 2007), and placing attractive women and tough men on the face of tobacco packaging to appeal to potential customers (Wakefield, Flay, Nichter, & Giovino, 2003). Smoking is a part of celebrity lifestyles that teenagers habitually see, read, or hear about through media coverage. The media excels in depicting a lifestyle of smoking that seems glamorous and risk-free. Young spectators are easily targeted as they are naļve and they like to imitate what they think is lavish and cool, especially if the behavior is portrayed by an admired role model.

Family members who smoke create an easier access for their children to experiment with cigarettes than children raised by non-smoking family members. It is only natural that adolescents are curious and they like to experiment with the unknown. If a pack of cigarettes is laying somewhere in the house, the chances a child will find it and try one is much greater because the environment allows for it (Alexander, Allen, Crawford, & McCormick, 1999). Teenagers are inclined to smoke if there is parental or sibling use of cigarettes. Children acquire a behavior by modeling the same that is led by parents or older siblings (Bricker, Peterson, Leroux, Andersen, Rajan, & Sarason, 2006). A child is more likely to smoke if one or both parents do as opposed to parents who do not (Harakeh, Scholte, De Vries, & Engels, 2005). A smoking parent may try hard in detaining his or her child from doing the same. However, it is difficult to convince them due to the hypocrisy of their own smoking habits. The probability that one smoking parent will influence their child to try one cigarette in a lifetime is 32% (Bricker, Peterson, Leroux, Andersen, Rajan, & Sarason). Similarly, a sibling who smokes has a strong influence over his or her brother or sister. The probability that an older sibling will affect his or her younger brother or sister in trying their first cigarette is 29% (Bricker, Peterson, Leroux, Andersen, Rajan, & Sarason), and the combined influence of both parent and older sibling is an astonishing 64% (Bricker, Peterson, Leroux, Andersen, Rajan, & Sarason).

References
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Bricker, J., Peterson, A., Leroux, B., Andersen, M., Rajan, K., & Sarason, I. (2006). Prospective prediction of children's
smoking transitions: role of parents' and older siblings' smoking. Addiction, 101(1), 128-136. Retrieved Tuesday,
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Harakeh, Z., Scholte, R., de Vries, H., & Engels, R. (2005). Parental rules and communication: their association with
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Nasrabadi, A., Parsayekta, Z., & Emami, A. (2004). Smoking as a symbol of friendship: qualitative study of smoking
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Sussman, S. (2003). The relations of cigarette smoking with risky sexual behavior among teens. Sexual
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Wakefield, M., Flay, B., Nichter, M., & Giovino, G. (2003). Role of the media in influencing trajectories of youth smoking.
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