Peer Pressure Can Be a Lifesaver

When we hear that someone succumbed to peer pressure or conformed to group expectations, we are inclined to think about it in negative terms. We imagine a young person smoking his first cigarette or an adult parroting the consensus of her community. We know that these social forces can cause people to act in ways that are harmful to themselves and others; but every day we are discovering more ways that they can be harnessed to solve problems in health, education and other areas. This is crucial. For decades, development organizations have spent billions of dollars developing medicines, installing wells, or building clinics or schools that people have not fully used, if they have used them at all.

Providing the right tools to fix a problem is only part of a solution, and often the easy part. Changing behavior is much tougher….When a problem is inextricably linked to behavior change, it’s essential to make the solution both convenient to practice, and something that can be socially reinforced.

Historically, health officials have tried to inform, or sometimes, scare people into adopting a healthy behavior. While it’s important for people to understand risks and causes of illnesses, when it comes to changing behavior, it is often more effective to lead with a message that is clear and aspirational.

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