Social pressure is an attempt to persuade someone to do something they may not want through gaining trust, friendship, curiosity, guilt, or threatening to end a relationship. Indirect pressure includes seeing others using substances or media creating a feeling of acceptance, while direct pressure involves being asked, offered, encouraged, teased, or criticized to try a substance.

1. What is social pressure?
Create a definition

2. Social Pressure
• Attempts to persuade someone to do
something they might not want to do
• May be done by:
– Gaining trust/building a friendship
– Curiosity
– Evoking guilt
– Threatening to end friendship/relationship

3. Indirect social pressure
• Seeing others (friends or family) using
substance
• Media
• Creates a feeling of “if it is Ok for them , must
be OK for me too”

4. Direct Social Pressure
• Being asked or offered a substance to try
• May include:
- encouragement to try
- teasing
- criticism

5. Journal Assignment
• Create 2 separate scenes that show the 2
types of social pressure described, direct and
indirect. Be sure to include details that
describe the pressure.