My Friend Got Me Again Drinking Funny

Anyone who has ever tried to surrender drinking, or goes somewhere and says they're not drinking, knows people encourage the states to drinkable and are unhappy when we don't. Why is this? Is it uniquely Australian? What tin can we practise about it?

The phenomenon of people experiencing pressure level to drink in social situations has been identified in many countries around the globe, not only in Commonwealth of australia.

Research on negative reactions to non-drinking and not-drinkers has been reported in countries including the U.s., Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Nippon, African countries, and Finland. Within countries, drinking norms also often vary from one social or cultural grouping to another.

Doing what our mates do

In some groups, heavy drinking might be normal. In these groups, individuals' drinking can be greatly influenced by the stated or implicit norms around drinking.

Recent Victorian enquiry plant "social drinkers", divers every bit people who have drinks in a social state of affairs outside their domicile at least once a calendar week, are more likely to have experienced pressure from others to beverage than those who aren't social drinkers.

Pressure to potable more was greater for those who were "risky drinkers" - that is, those who drank more than 6 standard drinks in one session at least weekly. This is presumably because those of us who drink more are more than likely to find ourselves in social groups where heavier drinking is the norm.

Most of the inquiry on social and peer influences on drinking has been done with teenagers and college students. This is because the influence of peers on our behaviour is strongest when nosotros're teenagers.

In that location is evidence that young adults who are more socially broken-hearted, or concerned about what others think of them, are more than decumbent to potable in a risky manner as a result.

The ability to resist peer influence seems to increase from about 14, although some inquiry suggests our ability to stand upward for ourselves in the face of our mates doesn't increase much from historic period eighteen to 30.

Research shows peers can influence our drinking practices both directly and indirectly. Straight influences can be equally overt as open up encouragement to drink, buying someone a potable when they take said they don't want one, or subtle gestures to potable upwardly.

Indirect influences can be through modelling (observing others' behaviour) or through behavior nearly what is considered acceptable drinking behaviour. We compare our own drinking behaviour with what is considered "normal" in our group.

Friends tin make abstaining from alcohol very difficult. from www.shutterstock.com

Why the pressure level to drink?

It's difficult to detect specific enquiry on why our friends put pressure on united states to drink. Merely there are some full general indications from social psychology and sociology regarding conformity and group mentality.

Essentially, nosotros are tribal social animals. From an evolutionary perspective, early humans had to form social groups to hunt, gather food, protect each other and survive. As a event, we have evolved tendencies to support grouping cohesion by befitting to group norms and shunning non-conformity.

And then if we tend to acquaintance with people who are like u.s. and engage in similar behaviours, and we showtime doing things in a mode that goes against the group norms, such as non drinking in a social situation, this can exist a challenge to the acceptability of that behaviour in the group.

Every bit I say to clients in my clinical psychology practice, when y'all determine you want to cutting downward or stop drinking, it tin be a bit like you are property up a mirror to your mates that says "I've decided my drinking needs to change and maybe yous should look at your own drinking".

At an well-nigh unconscious level, they can try and resolve this discomfort by encouraging y'all to start drinking again, simply like them. And of course, even if they might be supportive of your intentions not to drink when they are sober, after they've had a few drinks, they may exist more likely to put pressure level on y'all to drink.

What to practise to avert the peer pressure level

Here are some tips for dealing with pressure to beverage in social situations.

1. Don't be surprised if you friends seem to undermine your efforts to cutting downwards your drinking. They're not necessarily trying to undermine yous. They're probably just dealing with their own insecurities virtually their drinking.

2. Plan for and rehearse how y'all will reply earlier you put yourself in that social drinking situation. Sometimes having a cover story, such every bit "I'm on medication so I need to give drinking a rest" or "I'chiliad driving", tin can help in the short term.

3. Remind yourself of the reasons yous are cut down or stopping drinking. A stiff resolution to alter your drinking can exist an important part of resisting pressure to potable.

4. Think about who in the group might be supportive of your decision to modify your drinking behaviour and consider making them an ally. You can speak to them beforehand, explain what you are trying to do, and tell them what you'd like them to do to aid deal with any force per unit area from the grouping.

5. In the drinking situation, if people are buying rounds, either stay out of these or purchase others alcoholic drinks when it's your plough to shout, just enquire they buy you a non-alcoholic drink.

6. If they persist with putting pressure on you to drinkable, you can leave the situation. You might want to reflect on whether they are the kind of mates you desire to be around when you're trying to change your drinking behaviour.

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Tip ane originally said your friends may undermine your efforts to cut down their drinking, instead of your drinking. This has been corrected.

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Source: https://theconversation.com/why-do-our-friends-want-us-to-drink-and-dislike-it-when-we-dont-68430

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