As a white upper middle class teen living in an affluent neighborhood with authoritative parents, Sarah was expected to conduct herself in a certain manner than was a reflection of the morals and ideals held by both her parents. Sarah appears to be cloistered in her academic and socially acceptable sphere of her parents influence in the beginning until she starts high school and starts to experience a whole new set of peer influenced ideals.
She is bombarded with anxiety of the socially acceptable norm and her hopes for further interactions with this new peer group that causes her cognitive dissonance with her belief system and parental rules. She was under continued stress from her friends’ insistence that she come to the party because it would be fun. Their constant reassurance that she would be missing out if she did not go was a catalyst to her decision. Sarah is internally conflicted with upholding her beliefs in obedience to her parent’s rules and those of her own wants in a more intrinsic need to be accepted by her peers. Sarah was willing to subject herself to her friends’ ideas and wants due to her introvert need of acceptance. Her friends influenced her to break her long held beliefs for a night of fun. Her yearning to be seen as one of them and not an individual lead her to be easily influenced.
Sarah’s lack of real concern for her parent’s rule is a prime example of the nature versus nurture argument. She was hesitant for a while due to her conscious belief that she would be in trouble and a disappointment to her parents by defying their rules, but she still continued on to the party knowing the consequences of her actions. Sarah’s decision to conform to the peer pressure and her conforming to the wants of her new friends shows her introverted nature and a lack of self-assurance.
She was placed in a situation and environment she had never