Alcohol Abuse as a Rite of Passage: The Effect of Beliefs about Alcohol and the College Experience on Undergraduates' Drinking Behaviors

Abstract

Qualitative studies of alcohol's ritual influences indicate that college undergraduates who drink heavily tend to view alcohol use as integral to the student role and feel entitled to drink irresponsibly. Our analyses, based on a standardized measure of these beliefs administered to approximately 300 students, confirmed these findings. Among our sample, beliefs about alcohol and the college experience had an effect on levels of alcohol consumption similar in magnitude to that of other variables commonly associated with a risk for heavy drinking. Moreover, the alcohol beliefs index moderated the effects of three risk factors--gender, high school drinking, and friends' use of alcohol--on respondents' drinking behaviors. These findings are discussed within the context of the anthropological literature on liminality and rites of passage and with regard to strategies for intervention that address the structural roots of the widespread abuse of alcohol on college campuses.

Binge drinking in and out of college: An examination of social control and differential association on binge drinking behaviors between college students and their non-college peers

“…Previous research notes the differences in alcohol consumption between college students and their non-college peers (see Crawford and Novak 2006;White et al 2008;White and Jackson 2004;Vander Ven 2011;Wechsler and Wuethrich 2002). The routine activities approach slightly differs from Hirschi's (1969) idea of involvement.…”

“…When people transition to college peers replace parents as a daily influence in their life. When peers provide definitions in favor of binge drinking a person is likely to conform to the behavior because these pro-alcohol definitions outweigh the anti-alcohol definitions (Baer 1994;Barnes et al 2007;Crawford and Novak 2006;Rabow and Duncan-Schill 1995;Ward andGryczynski 2009, White andJackson 2004;White et al 2008).…”

Women drinking alcohol: assembling a perspective from a Victorian country town, Australia

“…At the same time, Jessica taps into narratives of drunkenness as a 'rite of passage' into adulthood for men (Crawford and Novak 2006;Valentine et al 2008). Her narrative positions women as sensible drinkers by labelling the 'girlfriend' as the 'responsible' figure; an agent of governance, transformation and self-restraint (Lyons and Willot 2008).…”

Prefrontal recruitment during social rejection predicts greater subsequent self-regulatory imbalance and impairment: neural and longitudinal evidence

“…Based on our balance theory perspective, we also hypothesized that daily reports of perceived social rejection would be associated with greater cravings for appetitive items (i.e., alcohol) among individuals who expressed a relatively higher level of rVLPFC activation during social rejection. Alcohol use was selected because it is a particularly acute self-regulation issue for undergraduates and has substantial consequences for life outcomes (Crawford & Novak, 2006). …”