What is Peer group?
{{About||other uses|Peer}} [[Image:Children marbles.jpg|thumb|right|Early childhood peers engaged in [[parallel play]]]] A '''peer group''' is a group of people who are equal in some way. Those in a peer group have the same status and are about the same age. They often interact with the group as a whole.<ref>{{cite web |title=Peer group definition |publisher=encarta.msn.com |url=http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861724592/peer_group.html |accessdate=25 November 2010 |archive-date=13 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090913202214/http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861724592/peer_group.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Members of a peer group often have similar interests and backgrounds.<ref>Wolf, Sun. (2008). Peer groups: expanding our study of small group communication. Thousand oaks,CA: Sage publications, Inc. {{ISBN|978-1-4129-2686-7}}</ref> ==Developmental psychology== [[developmental psychology|Developmental psychologists]], [[Lev Vygotsky]], [[Jean Piaget]], [[Erik Erikson]], and [[Harry Stack Sullivan]], argued that peer relationships are important in a person's development, and teach about equality, reciprocity, cooperation, and intimacy. Modern research also shows that social and emotional gains are indeed provided by peer interaction.<ref>Siegler, Robert (2006). How Children Develop, Exploring Child Develop Student Media Tool Kit & Scientific American Reader to Accompany How Children Develop. New York: Worth Publishers. {{ISBN|0716761130}}</ref> [[Judith Rich Harris]], in ''[[The Nurture Assumption]],'' argues that an individual's peer group significantly influences their intellectual and personal development. Several long-term studies also claim that peer groups improve school work.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Kindermann, Thomas A. |url=http://psycnet.apa.org/?fa=main.doiLanding&uid=1994-17018-001 |title=Natural peer groups as contexts for individual development: The case of children's motivation in school |journal=Developmental Psychology |year=1993 |volume=29 |issue=6 |pages=