Peers become an important influence on behavior during adolescence, and peer pressure has been called a hallmark of adolescent experience.
Peer conformity in young people is most pronounced with respect to style, taste, appearance, ideology, and values. 
Peer pressure is commonly associated with episodes of adolescent risk taking (such as delinquency, drug abuse, sexual behaviors, and reckless driving), because these activities commonly occur in the company of peers.

Affiliation with friends who engage in risk behaviors has been shown to be a strong predictor of an adolescent's own behavior. Peer pressure can also have positive effects when youth are pressured by their peers toward positive behavior, such as volunteering for charity or excelling in academics.The importance of peers declines upon entering adulthood.

Socially accepted kids are often accepted for the sheer fact that they conform well to the norms of teen culture, good and bad aspects included.

Some studies also show that many popular students also make lower grades than less socially accepted kids. This is possibly due to the fact that popular students may spend more time worrying about their social life rather than studying. Although there are a few risk factors correlated with popularity, deviant behavior is often only mild to moderate. Regardless, social acceptance provides more overall protective factors than risk factor.