Peer Pressure and Cognitive Distortions
No matter how old
we are everyone is presented with peer pressure at some point in our lives.
Peer pressure occurs most in junior high and high school because that is the developmental
stage when most are dealing with fitting in and acceptance. In the movie “She’s Too Yong", a three
fourteen year old high school girls fall prey to peer pressure, Nick an older
boy persuades them to participate in oral sex. All three of the teenage girls (Dawn, Hannah,
and Becca) and Nick experience thinking errors known as cognitive
distortions. Cognitive distortions
are a twisted thinking process in which our mind deceives one into believing
inaccurate thoughts to keep us from feeling bad about ourselves. Depending on the source there are ten to
fifteen well known cognitive distortions. For example, Hannah lives out the
thinking error of overgeneralizations because she believes she must behave in a
particular way in order to fit in with her sexually active peers. Her believe
was that in order to fit in you gotta “put out”. Cognitive distortions are
common in offender behavior. For instance Nick expressed no remorse for giving
the girls an STD instead he viewed his wants and needs as more important than
others. This is evidence of the thinking
error know as entitlement, which he used to justify his actions. Dawn and Beck live out the cognitive
distortion of minimizing which is the opposite of magnification (making a mountain
out of a mole hill). Their utilization of minimizing distorts the consequences
of the negative events. The cognitive
distortions in the movie were a negative coping in which the characters allowed
their mind to believe their choices were justifiable. Understanding and being able to recognize
cognitive distortions is a powerful and productive way to begin to make
healthier choices. As they girls begin
to develop they must also learn to deal with peer pressure. Overcoming peer pressure comes with building
a strong sense of self-esteem. Self-esteem is increased by believing in
yourself and letting go of the need to impress others to feel accepted. It is also important to understand your own
value system and understanding what your guiding principles are. Standing firm in what you believe in will
provide the guidelines for limiting setting. Stick to your guns! One of the
best strategies for eliminating peer pressure is by making conscious decisions with
whom you hang out with who you hang out with, instead surround yourself with positive
productive people who can support you in being a better person.
Cognitve Distortions- Taken from Dialectical Behavior Therapy Material
2.
Overgeneralizing Believing that something will always happen because it
happened once Examples: 1) I will never be able to make friends at a party
because I once made an awkward statement to someone, and they didn’t want to be
my friend. 2) I will never be able to speak in public because I once had a
panic attack before giving a speech.
3.
Discounting the Positive Deciding that if a good thing happens, it must
not be important or doesn’t count Examples: 1) I passed the exam this time, but
it was a fluke. 2) I didn’t have a panic attack today, but it’s only because I
was too busy to be worried.
4.
Jumping to Conclusions Deciding how to respond to a situation without
having all the information Examples: 1) The man/woman I am interested in never
called me back because he thinks I’m stupid. 2) That person cut me off in
traffic because he/she is a jerk!
5.
Mind Reading Believing that you know how someone else is feeling or what
they are thinking without any evidence Examples: 1) I know she hates my guts.
2) That person thinks I’m a loser.
6.
Fortunetelling Believing that you can predict a future outcome, while
ignoring other alternatives Examples: 1) I’m going to fail this test. 2) I’m
going to have a panic attack if I go out in public.
7. Magnifying
(Catastrophizing) or Minimizing Distorting the importance of positive and
negative events Examples: 1) I said the wrong thing so I will never have a
boyfriend/girlfriend. 2) My nose is so big that no one will ever love me. 3) It
doesn’t matter if I’m smart because I will never be attractive, athletic,
popular, rich, etc. 4) Making a mountain out of a molehill
8.
Emotional Reasoning Believing something to be true because it feels
true. Examples: 1) I am a failure because I feel like a failure. 2) I am
worthless because I feel worthless.
9.
“Should-y” Thinking Telling yourself you should, should not, or should
have done something when it is more accurate to say that you would have
preferred or wished you had or had not done something Examples: 1) I should be
perfect. 2) I should never make mistakes. 3) I should not be anxious. 4) I
should have done something to help.
10.
Labeling (or Mis-Labeling) Using a label to describe a behavior or error
Examples: 1) He’s a bad person (instead of “He made a mistake when he lied.”)
2) I’m stupid (instead of “I didn’t study for my test, and I failed it.”)
11. Personalization Taking
blame for some negative event even though you were not responsible, you could
not have known to do differently, there were extenuating circumstances, or
other people were involved. Examples: 1) It’s my fault he hits me. 2) My mother
is unhappy because of me
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