Peers and their Impact on Personal Development
Peers are an integral part of one's social existence and can have an impact on both early development and day-to-day experiences. A very significant and salient peer group is made up of individuals who belong to the same age group, neighborhood, squad, or classroom. Tomé et al. claim that people who have friends have encouraging social ties and a positive outlook toward family relationships. (26). It has been proposed that people with weak family ties who have close, encouraging friends always have high levels of self-worth and social skills comparable to those of their peers. Furthermore, friendship relationship with peers results in altruism, positive peer status maintenance, and involvement in constructive social activities. The role of peers in personal development is a key concept addressed by Mary Shelley in her novel, Frankenstein. The monster’s interaction with individuals around him shapes his actions throughout the story. It is evident that negative peer perception results in poor self-identity.
Influence of Peers on Social Aspects of Life
Peers strongly influence the social aspect of an individual’s life. Friends may determine the preference of an individual in the ways of speaking, dressing, eating habits, and even socialization skills. In the case where friends prefer to use a certain language, it is most likely that one would prefer to use the same language (Låftman and Viveca 613). This can be observed in Frankenstein where the Monster tries to transform himself like the peers he interacts with. During his narration of the story to his creator, the Monster explained how he had been influenced by the way humans conducted themselves including the way they spoke, the type of food they ate, and their belief. He states, “Safie was always gay and happy; she and I improved rapidly in the knowledge of the language, so that in two months I began to comprehend most of the words uttered by my protectors” (Shelley 118). The monster is so eager and anxious about his development; he is impressed by the way the humans communicate and interact with each other. He wishes to behave in a similar manner as Safie and Felix.
Impact of Peers on Self-Esteem and Perception
Peers can also create an impact on the self-esteem and perception of an individual. Having friends that look down upon one’s social construct or physical appearance may dramatically reduce self-worth (Mulye et al. 12). Such relationships are always accompanied by comparisons of physical appearance with outlines of possible flaws that one has. Self-conception may also be influenced by the infection of peers through their limiting beliefs; they may transfer their own limitations, forcing one to believe in the misconceptions. In the story, the Monster has an encounter with a group of individuals who make him feel very ugly. When he gets to the first village, all the people react violently against him, “but I had hardly placed my foot within the door before the children shrieked, and one of the women fainted. The whole village was roused; some fled, some attacked me, until, grievously bruised by stones…” (Shelley 112). Due to the shrieking of the children and the violence from the adults, the Monster developed the perception that he was very ugly. By observing the differences in their physical appearance, he came to believe that the village people were better than him. This becomes evident when he stated that he was terrified when he viewed himself in a transparent pool!
The Significance of Friendship in Psychological Wellbeing
The friendship that exists between peers defines the psychological wellbeing of oneself. According to Vaquera and Kao, having friends can allow one to share feelings and experiences, and in the process learn to solve conflict (56). Being isolated, however, may result in social isolation and constrained contacts, thus limiting the opportunities to develop relations and interaction skills. As such, lack of friendship may result in the lack of feeling of belongingness which creates anger and resentment against other social beings. In Shelley’s story, the Monster becomes agitated by humans whom he once trusted, but later betrayed him. He states, “My daily vows rose for revenge—a deep and deadly revenge, such as would alone compensate for the outrages and anguish I had endured” (Shelley 126). The urge for vengeance is as a result of isolation and social exclusion forced on him. As a result, he plans to take revenge to quench the traumatic events he had been put through.
Conclusion
In summary, the Monster’s experience reveals the role of peers in influencing personal development. Friends and close relations can greatly impact one’s mindset, social behaviors and characteristics, self-perception, and social wellbeing. In the case of the Monster, although he had developed various social skills such as language and an artistic way of living, he always felt alienated. Some of the humans screamed and fainted when they saw him because of his ogre look. He had also been rejected and chased away from the villages. This kind of relationship aimed at excluding him from the other social characteristics, an act that impacted his psychological development, thus creating resentment in him against the people. In the end, he kills many characters to fulfill his vengeance.
Work Cited
Låftman, Sara Brolin, and Viveca Östberg. "The pros and cons of social relations: An analysis of adolescents’ health complaints." Social science & medicine 63.3 (2006): 611-623.
Mulye, Tina Paul, et al. "Trends in adolescent and young adult health in the United States." Journal of Adolescent Health 45.1 (2009): 8-24.
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus, 1818. Engage Books, AD Classic, 2014.
Tomé, Gina, et al. "How can peer group influence the behavior of adolescents: Explanatory model." Global journal of health science 4.2 (2012): 26.
Vaquera, Elizabeth, and Grace Kao. "Do you like me as much as I like you? Friendship reciprocity and its effects on school outcomes among adolescents." Social science research 37.1 (2008): 55-72.
