Caroline Shimeall

Mr. Drechsler

November 3rd, 2016

Period 3

Annotated Source List

Abdullahi, A. (n.d.). The factors and effect of peer group influence on academic

performance of adolescent students in niger state. Retrieved from Acadamia database.

This paper examines the effect of peer groups on an individual and their success in

different fields, especially academics. It discusses the importance of adolescence, and how

this is an essential period during which young adults choose what different things they

prioritize (school, social life, etc.), and how one's peers affect that decision. The author

explores why peers have such a large effect on us, and how different types of friendships in

school can positively and negatively affect our grades. The article suggests teacher should

get to know their students inside and outside of the classroom to better understand their

situations, and thus teach them more efficiently.

This article is well written, organized, and contains a clear research question. The

information contained within the work does overlap with a few other articles i have found,

but it still provides information which provides support and answers to my research

question. It also provides the significance of the study, which I find useful in defining my

own reason for pursuing this research topic. The study was conducted in Niger, an African

country, but I believe the results to still be valid and applicable to children around the
world. Overall, this source further deepens my understand of peer influence and motivates

me to learn about helping teens resist negative peer pressure.

American psychological association. (n.d.). Retrieved from American Psychological

Association database.

The American Psychological Association is an database specific to psychology.

This online association contains a collection of journals concerning psychology and

articles written about the numerous facets of the human mind and the different

experiments conducted to obtain more information about the way the human brain

works. It also contains links to other databases and websites that could assist one in

their research.

This database is useful because in it I can find many articles specific to my

topic of peer pressure. The study of how the actions of one person affects the mental

activity of another is definitely a psychological phenomenon. Also, the various journal

articles and papers that can be found on this website are extremely reliable and are

essential contributors to my research. This website is an important place from which I

can find evidence to support my hypothesis.

Borukhov, V. (n.d.). How your children's friends affect their grades. Retrieved October 2,

2016, from Ny metro parents website: http://www.nymetroparents.com/article/How-Your-

Children-s-Friends-Affect-Their-Grades

This article corrects the common misconception many adults (such as parents or

teachers) have that they are the biggest factor in their children/ student's academic

success. Instead, the author states, kid's friends have a larger impact on their success in
 school. After talking with some teens, it was found that if a significant other or friend

was invested academically, that individual would be inclined to succeed in school. On

the other hand, if a person's social circle did not value scholastic success very highly,

even if an individual was smart, they were more likely to feign unintelligence to fit in.

To conclude the article, the author calls out to parents to constantly remind their

children to put education first.

This informative article, although directed at the public, is useful for

gaining insight on the topic of academic peer pressure. The data inside the article is

not numerical, but qualitative. The author gained much of her knowledge of this topic

by talking to teens and students who experience it, and by looking on social networks,

a media mostly left untouched in scientific research. Additionally, although this article

could be questioned as a valid source, much of the information within it can be found

in multiple other sources, leading me to believe in it's validity.

Buhs, E. (2006, March 5). Peer exclusion among children results in reduced classroom

participation and academic achievement [Press release]. Retrieved from

http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2006/03/exclusion.aspx

This article explains how being excluded by peers and missing out on many vital social

interactions as a young child can negatively impact an individual's success. By following a

group of 5-11 year olds over a five year period, the researcher found that those children

who were socially excluded had a harder time succeeding in school, and might even have

started to avoid school in order to feel comfortable. Additionally, the researcher believes

that the effects of exclusion, although less obvious, could be just as detrimental to an
individual as physical or verbal bullying. Overall, having strong and numerous positive

peer relationships are better for both ones academic success and mental state.

This press release is helpful to me by providing more evidence to support my

main thesis that positive peer pressure can lead to improved academic performance.

Although short, this source summarizes the single facet of peer influence on academic

performance by exploring the idea that the lack of a peer group at all will lead to less

academic success, like negative academic influences mentioned in earlier articles.

Additionally, this press release discusses how the exclusion of children not only affects

their scholastic success, but also their adjustment to life in general, shedding a different

light on this topic.

Dunn, J. (2011, July 11). The ten best and worst ways social media impacts education.

Retrieved November 3, 2016, from Edudemic website: http://www.edudemic.com/social-

media-education/

This webpage lists the pros and cons of social media in relation to education. It discusses

how in many scenarios, social media encourages a higher amount of communication that is

quick, and provides an artistic outlet for artists, singers, photographers and other creative

persons. It also helps students become familiarized with technology, which is the medium

of the future, and allows them to know how to do different things and tasks online that their

future career might want them to do. However, it also talks about the consequences of too

much social media use. Many students become too reliant on the internet for information

and thus retain/learn less themselves. Additionally, face to face communication has

decreased, and due to lack of body language, tone, etc, online communicate is no
replacement for real time social interactions. The article concludes by telling parents to

monitor their child's use of social media.

This article helps illustrate the positive and negative side of social media, which some

interpret to be online peer pressure. Social media, like a physical peer group, can motivate

a person to behave a certain way. Also, excessive social media and texting can deteriorate

one's grammar and spelling, negatively impacting academics. This reading provides good

insight about social media affect on education and academic success. This webpage

provided useful information on a spin off of my topic, and is a good addition to my current

sources.

Hay, D. F. (2005). Early peer relations and their impact on children's development.

Retrieved from Child Encyclopedia database.

This article begins by introducing the importance of peers in early childhood

development, contradicting the misconception that peers do not play a large role in a

child's development at three or four years old. Instead, it states that some children have

a hard time fitting in from a young age, and this affects how they interact with one

another and what skills they learn. The article finds that children who develop

friendships at young ages are more likely to avoid later psychological issues, and that

relating with peers early in life positively impacts development.

This informative article may be geared more towards parents or the public,

but still provides useful evidence concerning early childhood development, which can

be connected to my thesis apropos to academic peer pressure during childhood. The

author of the research is a college professor and the website is a very valid source of

information concerning my topic.

socialization among adolescents: A literature review. Retrieved from

http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/lib/thesis/2004/2004howardn.pdf

This research paper elaborates on the difficulties and pressures adolescents

experience in their teen years, focusing on peer groups and how they impact an

individual. It argues that peers find friends who are similar to themselves, and if the

individual wants to be friends with someone who is different, they feel pressure to

change and be like that person, whether they participate in positive or negative

activities. This paper also differentiates between the effect of peers on an individual's

motivation (mindset) and their engagement ( actual act of doing schoolwork), but find

that both are affected positively by associating with a friend group that has a high

satisfaction with school. Additionally, this source discusses how an individual, at this

stage in their life, might choose to prioritize another way to spend their time over

academics, and peers might have a large role in this decision.

Although this college research paper is dated, it provides insightful

arguments about peer group and its influences on teens. It is also the only source

which see's teens engagement and motivations as different measurements of their

academic success. Concerning its validity, this secondary source contain information

that argues the same points as multiple other sources. This paper is a useful source of

qualitative data, and background information about peer group and its influence.

Jensen, R., & Bursztyn, L. (n.d.). How does peer pressure affect educational investments.

NIH. Retrieved from National Center for Biotechnology Information database.

academic decisions. A study was conducted observing whether signing up for classes

publicly or privately affect which class was going to be taken. When classes were

public, people were more likely to sign up for honors (which more people take) than

regular classes, demonstrating the peer effect. Additionally, research was done

concerning the sign up for a SAT prep class, and sign up rates were higher when the

students were told it would be kept anonymous in regular classes. However, in honors

classes, sign up was higher for another honors class, because it was the norm for that

group of students.

This paper examines how teens follow social norms, and directly supports

my thesis with many ideas about the positives and negatives of academic peer

pressure. The study illustrates how students could experience peer pressure which

leads them to sign up for a SAT course, which will positively affect their grades,

demonstrating good academic pressure. However, it also shows how, for kids in less

hard classes, it is harder for them to sign up for a hard class because it is not the social

norm in that classroom. Overall, this article is a useful source and deepens my

knowledge on many of the key ideas in my thesis of academic peer pressure.

Johns Hopkins University. (n.d.). Retrieved from Johns Hopkins University database.

Johns Hopkins University Website is a database from which one can pull journal

articles and other information.

This college website is a useful database filled with up to date scientific

journals and information. Johns Hopkins University is a prestigious and respected

American school, and it's online database is known to be reliable and only to be
 containing valid information and data. Many works written by Johns Hopkins

University professors are useful contributions to specific online research, and are a

good source of accurate data and conclusions on a plethora of subjects.

Johnson, K. A. (2000, May 26). The peer effect on academic achievement among public

elementary school students. Retrieved September 29, 2016, from Heritage website:

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2000/05/peer-effect-on-achievement-among-

elementary-school-students

This article discusses the effect of one's peers and social interactions on academic

development, and also family environments impact on the latter. It starts by

introducing the topic, and how peer influence is the strongest single factor when it

comes to academic development. The article also briefly mention stereotypes for

African Americans and Hispanics, who are many times negatively impacted by their

peers if they attempt to do well in school, or act "white". Next, text contains results

concerning whether one's friends encouraged academic achievement were examined

and from these results, the author argued that academic peer pressure is most prevalent

in fourth graders, and decreases slightly in eighth grade. In conclusion, peer attitudes

have a significant effect on students academic achievement, but this influence

decreases with age.

This article provides extremely helpful analysis of test results concerning

my topic of academic peer influence. It helped me gain a better understanding of the

effect of peers on academic success, and exposed me to other factors in academic

achievement such as race stereotypes and parental education. It elaborates on the

different independent variables, and acknowledges how the data could have been
 collected more accurately. Overall, this source's only downside is that it is very dated,

having been written in 2000. Despite its old age, this document still contains intriguing

information about academic peer pressure, and will be a good source of information.

Krings, M. (2014, January 24). Study shows high school athletes perform better in school,

persist to graduation more than non-athletes. Kansas University. Retrieved from

https://news.ku.edu/2014/01/15/study-shows-high-school-athletes-performed-better-school-

persisted-graduation-more-non

This news report contradicts the stereotype that athletes are not smart and instead

argues that sports increase academic success. Data in this article shows that athletes

had lower dropout rates, higher school attendance days, and better test scores than

those who don't play sports. The author believes one reason that sports players have

higher grades is so that they are eligible to play on a team. Another point made is that

the lessons and skills one learns in sports increase an individual's chance of success in

the real world. Across all ethnic groups and genders, athletic participation increased

academic performance and thus created a higher chance of success for those who play

sports.

This news article, written by a state university, introduces a new idea that

sports could actually promote academic success. Sports, an activity that requires

teamwork and peer compatibility, is where many positive friendships are made. My

thesis that teen's academic success is impacted by their friendships can be supported

by this article through the analysis of how sports players are in an environment where

it is easier to make friends, and how those positive social interactions and influences
 allow them to do better scholastically in school. Unlike other articles, this one focuses

on a topic that is not my main theses, but can still be used to support my claim.

Lam, C. (2004). Estimating various kinds of peer effects on academic performance.

Retrieved from http://www.albany.edu/economics/research/seminar/files/chungsang.pdf

This academic report analyzes the four different types of peers (friends, study

mates, emotional supporter, and seat mates) and each of their effects on an individual's

academic success. It argues that individuals will have study mates who are at their

level of academics, but whether their friends are also learning at that level doesn't

matter. But, it also states that an individual's grades are more likely to influence their

friend or study mate rather than their emotional supporters or seat mate. The document

concludes that different types of peers affect teens in different ways, and that

understanding how these relationships form is essential in understanding how they

affect individuals.

This report provides a different look at my project on academic peer

pressure by focusing on different types of peer rather than peer groups. Because this

source was obtained from an academic website, it appears to be a reliable and citable

source of information on my topic. Although the main topic of this paper strays from

my main topic, it contains interesting information regarding peer type that could prove

useful in my project.

Leka, I. (2015). The impact of peer relations in the academic process among adolescents

[pdf]. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(1).

achievement, social choices, and life success. It exemplifies how having friends who

are academically motivated to do well in school will cause an individual to feel the

need to perform successfully in school as well. It touches on the topic of sports, and

how they encourage good peer relationships, thus leading to better academic success.

The author of the paper also found that with increased social motivation aka popularity

came a decrease in academic motivation. Generally, the author found that peer

relationships were the largest single factor in teenage development and peer pressure

could have both positive and negative outcomes.

This article was helpful in providing background information on the topic

of peer academic pressure, and also introduced some new ideas such as the correlation

between social and academic motivation, and the impact of sports on academics. It is

well written and as it is from a scientific journal, it gives good examples from

previously conducted studies. However, while the article does give a good summary of

the topic and gives several studies as evidence, it does not cover all aspects of the

topic as the document is only a few pages long.

Lister-Landman, K. M., Domoff, S. E., & Dubow, E. F. (2015). The role of compulsive

texting in adolescents' academic functioning. Retrieved from

http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/ppm-ppm0000100.pdf

This paper discusses the interesting topic of compulsive teen texting, and how it affects

academic performance. The author shows a much greater amount of concern for the amount

of texting done by girls, who send about twice as many texts as boys do. The study shows

that texting during a lecture and trying to multitask led to less information retention from a
lecture, meaning a lower grade on a test. Similarly, studies show that there is a negative

correlation between the amount of time spent on Facebook and a math test grade.

Additionally, there is a positive relationship between the amount of text and the

amount/severity of sleeping problems, which might lead to issues in academics the next

day. The source concludes that texting has a negative impact on grades, but only for

females due to their much greater use of mobile devices.

This paper was found on the American psychological association website and explores

the topic of compulsive texting. Very different from many of the other sources I am using,

this research report discusses the online side of peer interactions, and how that in turn can

impact grades. In relation to my research topic of academic peer pressure and how one's

friends can affect their grades, this article provides useful insight about the detrimental

effects of too much online socialization. Written recently in 2015, this reliable article shows

a different side to peer effect on academic achievement.

Murphy, A. P. (2015, November 1). Peer pressure has a positive side. Scientific American.

Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/peer-pressure-has-a-positive-

side/

This journal article argues the side of positive peer pressure, and discusses how

the power of the peer group can be used for good rather than harm. Although studies

show peer influence does cause adolescents to drive with less caution in a car, being

around peers influences students to take more positive risks in the classroom. This

academic risk taking leads to quicker learning and question asking that expands the

knowledge of students. Thus, this article argues the view that peers can positively

impact a learning environment and increase the academic success of individual.

called the Scientific American, and is the longest publishing magazine in the US. It

contains many scientific publications on intriguing topics. This particular article

focuses on how positive peer pressure can increase learning and curiosity, and improve

academic achievement. This source will be very useful to my research due to it being

very relevant to my main hypothesis, and an extremely interesting topic.

Topical Research Series: Vol. 4. Parents' values and children's perceived pressure. (n.d.).

Retrieved from http://cty.jhu.edu/research/topical/pressure.html

This article describes the effect of parental pressure on the academic performance

of students. A study is conducted in which the parents of academically talented

students are asked if they are involved in their child's life, and the the child is asked

whether they feel excessive pressure from their parents high expectations. Less than

half of the students said that they felt excessive pressure from their parents to succeed,

and most students felt confident in their abilities and were not very stressed by their

parent's desires. Some students felt overwhelmed if their parents set expectations so

high they were not realistic, and if they make a certain goal more important than the

overall education of the student. The study concludes that parents of academically

talented students do not ruin their children's success by pushing theme too far, and

overall let the children achieve on their own.

This study was conducted on the relationship between parent and child, and how it

impacts scholastic success for the latter. This article is useful to my research because it
 demonstrates how parents don't affect their children's success as much as people think.

As most of my other sources believe, peers play the largest role in student's academic

success rather than parents. Obtained off of Johns Hopkins University website, which

is another source on it's own, the information in this article is valid and will be a useful

addition to my current research.

Peer pressure. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2016, from Reach Out website:

http://us.reachout.com/facts/factsheet/peer-pressure

This factsheet contain a lot of basic information about peer pressure and what it is. It

discusses types of peer pressure, how it might be affecting you, and what you should do

about it. It lists ways to avoid negative pressure and how an individual can stand up against

it.

This webpage supplies much background information about the broader topic of peer

pressure, in comparison to my much narrower field of academic peer pressure. It provides

insights and ideas that are seen in many of the articles on academic peer pressure, and is a

good resource to reference for background information on peer pressure. This website was

made with the intent of informing people about and helping them avoid falling victim to

peer pressure. The information in this source is reliable and updated.

Peer Pressure Affects Academic Performance. (2000). Retrieved from

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=9745

This short summary describes a study that demonstrates how peer pressure affects

academic performance. In this experiment, children were asked whether their friends
 make of people who try in school, and if they replied yes to this question, their grades

were over 5% lower. Additionally, this short summary mentions how this peer pressure

was prevalent in African American families and Hispanic families, with many of the

students saying that their friends made fun of those who try in school. Also, students

with a lower income generally received lower grades than the average, but not as low

as the ones who suffer from peer pressure.

This recap of a study done demonstrates how impactful the words of one's friends

can be on an individual's grades, and how the amount of peer pressure can be elevated

in certain racial backgrounds. This article provides useful insight on my topic and

provides specific data for the topic of academic peer pressure. It concludes that peer

pressure has a larger impact on grades than one's income does, which is a huge factor

in academic success, highlighting the importance of stopping negative peer pressure

and promoting positive peer pressure. This source contributes relevant information to

my research and will enhance my current evidence. Although this data is extremely

dated, the information found on this website has been fact checked with many other

sources, and can be concluded as valid.

Peer relations and learning. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2016, from State University

website: http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2315/Peer-Relations-Learning.html

This article admits that multitudes of uncountable factors contribute to student

academic success, but elaborates on the effects of peers in the classroom. It references

a study that followed peer group formation from elementary to highschool and

beyond, with elementary students having a large peer group including their entire

class, middle schoolers moving towards smaller pairs or groups, and finally high
 schoolers becoming interested in finding a love interest. The study also showed that

family influence on students decreases during adolescence, as peer influence

increases. The article states that peers have a very definitive role in determining an

individual's academic performance. According to the author, humans need a feeling of

belonging in order to function properly and succeed academically.

This website provides very useful and interesting information concerning my

topic, being up the idea that humans crave belonging, and can not function properly

without it, thus hindering their learning abilities. It also reinforces other points that I

also found in other articles like the importance of peers in adolescence. Overall, this

source was a good addition to my collection of information.

Rakestraw, M. (2012, December 12). The power of positive peer pressure. Retrieved

November 3, 2016, from Humane Education website:

http://humaneeducation.org/blog/2012/12/12/the-power-of-positive-peer-pressure/

This article starts of by saying peer pressure can be positive, and presents an example:

most teens volunteer because their friends are doing it. The author briefly discusses peer

pressure, saying we conform to become part of the "normal" in crowd. The author wants to

use peer pressure to promote humane activities, like saving energy, picking up trash, and

environmentally friendly endeavors. The article is concluded by writing that positive peer

pressure might influence someone who was afraid to do something to take action; it might

simply be a catalyst for someone too shy to step up.

This webpage provides useful insight on how positive peer pressure can be used for good,

and to promote healthy activities for a community. It helps me come up with ideas of what

I should do with my research when I complete it. The article was interesting and engaging,
referencing a couple studies that could be useful in my project. Overall, this source

discusses topics useful to my research and will contribute to my final product.

Resources, Y. (2010, March 23). Pressure from peers can have positive influence on teens

[Newsgroup post]. Retrieved from Courier Press website:

http://archive.courierpress.com/features/family/youth-resources/pressure-from-peers-can-

have-positive-influence-on-teens-ep-446764663-325799871.html

This article focuses on the rarely touched topic of positive peer pressure, and how

sometimes following what others do could be beneficial to you. The author writes that

peer pressure can make people go out of their comfort zones to join sports or clubs, get

good grades, and make good decisions, all of which are positive developments, unlike

most of the illegal activities associated with negative peer pressure.

This short but informative article illustrates the "good" side of peer pressure, and

expands on many ideas that I myself have come to believe. It mentions that positive

peer pressure can raise one's academic achievement, as well as promoting leadership.

This article is a useful background source for the benefits of peer pressure, and is

useful to my research.

Rosuck, S., & Mauser, E. (2016, November). [Personal interview by the author].

This human resource is an interview with Ellen Mauser . After speaking with Mauser I

obtained a greater understanding of my topic and gained a lot of useful information for

my project. She is very experienced in the field of peer and academic pressure as a

guidance counselor at Centennial High School. Her answers to questions I have about
 academic pressure at centennial high school was an important first hand look at what

kids face and how they feel in my school.

Schwartz, D., Nakamoto, J., Gorman, A. H., & McKay, T. (2006). Popularity, social

acceptance, and aggression in adolescent peer group links with academic performance and

school attendance. Retrieved from American Psychological Association database.

This article discusses the correlation between popularity and peer acceptance with

academic success. The authors find that most students well liked by their peers tended

to do well in school, while " aggressive" students who were popular tended to have

more unexplained absences. It describes the benefits and risks of popularity in schools,

illustrating that it can both negatively and positively affect an individual's academic

performance. Surprisingly, according to this article, social acceptance did not affect

the grade point averages of individuals who were not accepted by their peers.

This research paper was retrieved from the American Psychological Association

website, leading me to believe in it's validity, despite the fact the results of its study

contradict a part of another data set. This document makes important connections

between popularity and academic success, while downsizing social acceptance to a

small or non-existent factor in grades. This viewpoint allows me to see a different

perspective on my topic, and expand on my already existent knowledge. Due to the

fact I have been able to find few current articles on my topic, this article is old, but

considering my topic does focus on scientific advances, I believe it to be acceptable.

Shimeall, C. M. (2016, November). Academic pressure poll. Unpublished raw data.

This source is a poll of 6 questions about academic pressure that was given to

around 100 English 10 GT and honors students at Centennial High School in Howard
 County, MD. This information will provide firsthand and primary data for my project,

and will extend my current knowledge on this topic. It will also illustrate how this

subject applies in my own community. The questions on the poll provide insight on

whether friends impact class choice, school performance, and motivation. I believe

that this source will be a useful addition to my current data.

Spavins, E. A. (2007, May). Friendship quality and peer attachment as predictors of

adolescents' subsequent academic achievement [Microsoft Word].

This document discusses many different types of peer influence, but especially the

effect of peer relationships on academic success. It argues that adolescents, in order to

fit in, will try to be like their friends, and that includes if their friends performs well

academically. Additionally, this document links too much peer influence along with

ignoring one's parents can lead to a decrease in academic achievement. A study

mentioned in this file discusses how a group of academic achievement oriented

students were found more prosocial than those who were less academically oriented.

Overall, the main point in this reading is that teens with better friendships will have

more academic success than those who don't.

This paper provides many interesting sets of data that will aid in creating a

research project. Very detailed and specific, this file explores ideas relating to the

quality of friendships, and how that impacts an individual school performance. It

provides statistical proof for all of it's claims and makes interesting arguments

concerning age and amount of academic peer pressure. However, this article, like

some others, is dated, and was written in 2007. Still, the source is a valid place to
 gather information to create an original reattach project on the topic of academic peer

pressure.

Taylor, E. D., & Wong, C. A. (1996). Gender impact in the difference of peer influences

and peer orientation on african american adolescent's school value and academic

achievement. [pdf]. Retrieved from

http://www.rcgd.isr.umich.edu/garp/articles/taylor96a.pdf

This article discusses the difference between the academic peer influence in

African American boys and girls. It asks a series of questions to both genders, and

discovers that boy are more strongly affected by the opinions of their peers, and are

more likely to value school less if his friend don't value it either. Additionally, girls are

thought to rely more on their peer group when deciding what they should do.

This article is fairly short, and although reliable, is quite dated. Additionally, the

information focuses solely on african american individuals, which is not the only

ethnicity I am researching. But, this article does provide useful insight on how gender

may impact how much one is influenced by their peers, and how that in turn might

affect their scholastic success.

Todd, K., Burke, M., & Sass, T. (2012, August). How peers affect student performance.

Retrieved from https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/communities-and-

banking/2012/fall/how-peers-affect-student-performance.aspx

This paper discusses different ways researchers have attempted to improve

academic performance, and the information gained from these experiment. One such
 experiment is called Metco, and brings high level students from Boston and puts then

in suburban schools where the students don't achieve as high. A controversial study,

some said that it was lowering the learning experience in Boston where the students

had left from. Another study done showed that one low achieving student did not

affect the rest of the class at all, and that students are positively influenced

academically by students whose scholastic performance was only slightly above that

of their own. Also, it was found that very high-level students tended to benefit from

each others company, perhaps due to increased competition.

These studies illustrate how students can affect each others learning experience,

and what a large impact peer pressure has in one's academic success. Negative

academic influence, positive peer influence, and competition are all topics that are part

of my research. These sets of information provide useful information to support my

hypothesis with, and increase the quality of my research.

Tom, G., & Gaspar de Matos, M. (2012). How can peer group influence the behavior of

adolescents. Retrieved from

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Margarida_Matos/publication/230860990_How_Can_

Peer_Group_Influence_the_Behavior_of_Adolescents_Explanatory_Model/links/0046352b

1d423e47bb000000.pdf?origin=publication_detail

This report talks about the effect of peer group on various parts of teen's lives,

including education. The authors recognize that peer group is very important in aiding
 the communication skills and social aspect of an adolescent's life, but also realizes it

can be a place where peer pressure is born. Peer groups tend to negatively influence

teens to participate in illegal activities more, but positive friendships are so important

in creating a healthy environment for adolescents to grow. The researchers find that

parental monitoring helps in keeping teens from participating in unwanted activities,

while an individual might feel peer pressure from a peer group to do certain things.

The authors conclude that peers play a big role in teens lives, and affect their feelings

and motivation they have about school.

This paper provides insight on peer pressure in general and how impactful it is in

the teen years. The importance and dangers of peer groups are highlighted, providing

useful information. This article contains useful data concerning peer pressure and it's

effect on teens. This research paper was written in 2012, so the information is still

pretty up to date. This article is a useful contribution to my research.

Yang, J. (2015, July 2). Do asian students face too much academic pressure? CNN.

Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/02/opinions/yang-genius-girl/

This article is about Asian americans, and the high pressure that is put on them to

succeed. Asian americans are stereotyped as smarter than all other ethnicities, and

have very high standards and expectations set for them by themselves, their parents,

and society. This news article focus on an asian american girl who falsified getting into

two extremely good schools due to the extreme amount of pressure she was feeling.

All throughout the U.S., asian americans are becoming overwhelmed by the

expectations before them, and turn to missing school, cheating, or even suicide. The
 author believes that all the buzz about getting into certain schools isn't necessary, and

that one doesn't need to go to the top school in the country to be successful.

This article is a very different angle of my topic, focusing on the negative aspects

of academic peer pressure. It illustrates what can go wrong if adolescents are pushed

too far in this delicate stage of their life to succeed. Unlike many of my sources in that

it's target audience is the general public, this news article provides some very sad but

relevant information about the extreme academic pressure in today's society. Written

just last year, this source is fairly recent and it was recovered from a reliable news

website.

Zitzman, N. A. (2005). Peer relations and academic achievement in early elementary

school (Master's thesis, Louisiana State University, Louisiana). Retrieved from

http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-07142005-163536/unrestricted/Zitzmann_thesis.pdf

This thesis discusses the prevalence of peer influence in elementary school, and

how peer interaction play an important role in children's development. It states how

children who are accepted by their peers perform better in school, and might be

experiencing more positive cognitive growth that those who do not associate with their

classmates. A study was conducted among elementary school students by having them

indicate who they were friends with, and who they were not friends with. The results

showed that those students who were not indicated by many classmates as a friend
performed more poorly in school than those who were, and showed less enthusiasm

for school attendance.

This paper concentrates mostly on whether having friends and being accepted by

one's peers impacted one's grades, in contrast to whether an individual will perform

better in school if they have friends who enjoy and perform well in school. Despite

straying from my topic of interest, this document provides useful insight about

elementary relationships and how peer acceptance starts impacting grades at a young

age. Obtained from a college website, this thesis is a valid source of information, and

despite it's age, correlates with much of the modern research.