Anyone who has worked with students has likely seen the effects of peer pressure in schools. Whether it’s an individual being discouraged to take studying seriously or certain subjects in school being less “cool” to enjoy, peers’ opinions hold power. Now, new research shows exactly how much this power really affects students.

Peer Pressure in Action

SAT prep courses are a popular way for today’s students to gain an advantage on the SAT. In fact, students report that by taking a prep course, they expect their SAT score to go up by at least 100 points, which is fairly significant and would likely affect their college acceptance rate. To measure the power of peer pressure, the National Bureau of Economic Research offered SAT prep courses at several Los Angeles high schools. In the schools where the sign-ups were described as public, meaning that students’ peers could see who signed up, only 53% of students expressed interest in the course. In schools where the sign-ups were described as private, so that no one could see who had signed up, 80% of students wanted to participate.

This research suggests that around one-third of the students who wanted to take an SAT prep course would forgo signing up, just to “save face” among their peers. The results were particularly surprising because the majority of students wanted to take the prep course, but so many of them still hesitated, due to how their classmates would perceive their interest. Furthermore, even students in peer groups who valued education were hesitant to sign up for the prep classes publicly because of the perception that they needed academic assistance. The takeaway from this study is that peer pressure is in full effect in our schools, and can cause students to walk away from opportunities they would normally take.

Preventing Peer Pressure

Understanding how peer pressure affects students is one thing, but how do we respond to it? As the study showed, an overwhelming majority of the students were interested in taking an “uncool” prep class if their classmates didn’t know they were doing it. Students value privacy in their educational needs. This is why we at Wowzers allow students to work at their own pace, in different sections of the curriculum, and often in varying grade levels. Students are never informed if they are working at a slower pace or at a lower level than their classmates, and there is no way for others to see where their peers are at in the curriculum. This prevents peer pressure from taking effect, and allows students the privacy they clearly desire.

To learn how the Wowzers K-8 online math program eliminates peer pressure in learning, contact our team or try a free trial.