You can't have it both ways.
I am a comparatively low hour PPL. My licence is indeed a licence to learn, and I am keen to do so (and to stay alive). One of my major learning resources is the advice I get from more experienced pilots.
I will often ask for, and take advice. I believe I am responsibly discharging my PIC responsibilities by doing so. I will not fly against advice, and when the advice is the other way, I will fly with an instructor as P1. It is on such occasions that I explore my personal envelope, and develop a real respect for conditions near my personal minima.
So without in any way diluting my responsibility for my own flights, I do rely on advice from more experienced pilots to inform my decisions. It would be misleading to refer to such a process as peer pressure.
I am lucky to fly with a club that does not cut corners, and would not allow me to fly outside legal or club currency requirements. There is also a clear written ops records of who is P1 - at least on departure.
But the serious issue raised by this episode is not about legality. It is about other aspects of airmanship. And yes - if I am P1, I make the decisions, and I alone am answerable for them. But the way I make them is more complex, and can involve decisions about who I trust and respect.