A peer group is a social group of people who have similar interests, age, background, or social status/04%3A_The_Role_of_Socialization/4.05%3A__Agents_of_Socialization/4.5E%3A_Peer_Groups). Members of a peer group are likely to influence each others beliefs and behavior/04%3A_The_Role_of_Socialization/4.05%3A__Agents_of_Socialization/4.5E%3A_Peer_Groups). Peer groups are an important part of socialization, especially during childhood and adolescence/04%3A_The_Role_of_Socialization/4.05%3A__Agents_of_Socialization/4.5E%3A_Peer_Groups). Unlike other agents of socialization, such as family and school, peer groups allow children to escape the direct supervision of adults and learn to form relationships on their own/04%3A_The_Role_of_Socialization/4.05%3A__Agents_of_Socialization/4.5E%3A_Peer_Groups). Peer groups also offer the chance to discuss interests that adults may not share with children, such as clothing, popular music, drugs, and sex/04%3A_The_Role_of_Socialization/4.05%3A__Agents_of_Socialization/4.5E%3A_Peer_Groups). Peer groups can influence individual members attitudes and behaviors on many cultural and social issues, such as drug use, violence, academic achievement, and even the development and expression of prejudice/04%3A_The_Role_of_Socialization/4.05%3A__Agents_of_Socialization/4.5E%3A_Peer_Groups). Peer groups provide an influential social setting in which group norms are developed and enforced through socialization processes that promote in-group similarity/04%3A_The_Role_of_Socialization/4.05%3A__Agents_of_Socialization/4.5E%3A_Peer_Groups). Peer groups cohesion is determined and maintained by such factors as group communication, group consensus, and group conformity concerning attitude and behavior/04%3A_The_Role_of_Socialization/4.05%3A__Agents_of_Socialization/4.5E%3A_Peer_Groups).

In addition to sociology, the term "peer group" is also used in finance and marketing to refer to a group of individuals or companies that share similar characteristics with one another, such as age, income, education, race, gender, industry, sector, financial position, profitability, capital structure, business models, location, and seasonality. Peers may be grouped by industry or sector, size, or business factors. Peers can be one of the most useful tools for analysis in many different fields of study.