The perceptions that students maintain about their peers may exert a stronger influence on behavior than what is true in reality. The social norms strategy, designed to correct misperceptions, has been used on college campuses across the country to reduce students’ alcohol use. The purpose of this study was to assess social norm perceptions concerning alcohol use among a sample of University of Idaho students according to their living arrangement. Estimations of the prevalence of episodic heavy drinking exceeded the percentage of students who reported episodic heavy drinking among some living groups. Females living in off-campus apartment complexes estimated that 36.8% of the females in their living group participated in episodic heavy drinking. However, only 17.1% reported episodic heavy drinking. This same pattern of overestimating one’s living group peers episodes of episodic heavy drinking was also true among females living in sororities on campus and males living in residence halls on campus. The percentage of members of sororities reporting episodic heavy drinking was 36.1%. Yet their perception of the percentage of their living groups peers engaging in episodic drinking was higher at 68.2%. It was estimated that 39.9% of males living in residence halls engaged in episodic heavy drinking, but only 14.8% reported this behavior. Fraternity members on campus and males living in apartment complexes off campus were the only students who underestimated their living group peers episodic heavy drinking behaviors. These findings suggest interventions using the social norms approach may only be appropriate with certain living groups. See NA
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Alcohol Use, College Students
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: NA
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.