Positively or negatively, our parents and families are powerful influences on us. But even ① stronger, especially when we’re young, are our friends. We often choose friends as a way of ② expanding our sense of identity beyond our families. As a result, the pressure to conform to the standards and expectations of friends and other social groups ③ is likely to be intense. Judith Rich Harris, who is a developmental psychologist, ④ arguing that three main forces shape our development: personal temperament, our parents, and our peers. The influence of peers, she argues, is much stronger than that of parents. “The world ⑤ that children share with their peers,” she says, “is what shapes their behavior and modifies the characteristics they were
born with, and hence determines the sort of people they will be when they grow up.”
* temperament: 기질