Navigating the Streets: Emotions, Peers, and Decision-Making

In this topic, you learned that positive and negative emotions play a big part in your decision-making. In fact, your body physically changes when you are going through emotions, like when you have a fight-or-flight response. You also explored how peers can influence your behavior, a term often referred to as peer pressure. This type of persuasion typically happens when you want to avoid rejection or do not feel very knowledgeable about something. While peer pressure can be positive or negative, it is important to your ultimate growth and independence.

You also have a new tool to carry with you, called the decision-making model. Use it to make educated and responsible decisions, and to accept the consequences of the choices you make. It is a step-by-step process that can prove helpful in almost any situation. Practicing the decision-making model is a great way to help you maintain self-control, and is part of becoming a responsible adult.