Evaluations and Perceptions of Others’ Evaluations of Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences Predict Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences Among College Drinkers

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Objective: A key assumption when assessing alcoholrelated problems is that these problems are considered negative. A growing literature suggests that college drinkers do not perceive all measured consequences to be negative. Research has established the impact of others' beliefs on personal beliefs and behaviors. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of perceptions of others' evaluations (POE) of consequences on one's own evaluations and subsequent experiences of consequences. Method: A sample of 885 heavy drinking college students participated in a longitudinal study. Participants reported the number of alcoholic drinks consumed per week, experiences of alcoholrelated problems, evaluations of those consequences, and perceptions of how typical university students evaluate those consequences. A moderated mediation of POE on negative alcohol-related consequences via evaluations of consequences at differing levels of alcohol consumption was conducted, with gender, baseline consequences, and intervention effects being controlled for. Results: Results indicated that POE had no direct effect on subsequent consequences. However, an indirect effect was found through evaluations of consequences, such that there was a positive association between both POE and evaluations of consequences, and evaluations of consequences and subsequent consequences. Average weekly drinking moderated the association between POE and evaluations of consequences, such that the association between POE and evaluations of consequences was stronger for those who drank more heavily. Conclusions: Results are consistent with social cognition processes, such as pluralistic ignorance, and suggest that POE and evaluations of consequences should be considered in the construction of interventions targeting heavy-drinking college students. (J. Stud Alcohol Drugs, 78, 249-257, 2017)

Collateral damage from college drinking: A conceptual framework for alcohol’s harms to others among US college students

“…Of these, three articles were from data collection efforts designed to measure HTO victimization among college students (Diep, Knibbe, Giang, & De Vries, 2015;Hallett et al, 2012;Langley, Kypri, & Stephenson, 2003). Of the 15 other studies, four included brief sections about HTO (i.e., Harvard's College Alcohol Survey, the Canadian Campus Survey, Ireland's College Lifestyle and Altitudinal Survey, and the Study to Prevent Alcohol-Related Consequences), two included brief sections about alcohol-related consequences in which a fewer than five HTO were included (Rinker, Young, Krieger, Lembo, & Neighbors, 2017;Strunin et al, 2014), and eight focused on a few specific HTO (Araas & Adams, 2008;Fair & Vanyur, 2011;Howard, Griffin, & Boekeloo, 2008;Neal & Fromme, 2007;O'Brien et al, 2017;Presley & Pimentel, 2006;Reed, Amaro, Matsumoto, & Kaysen, 2009;Wilhite, Mallard, & Fromme, 2018). As shown in Figure 2, this means most of the research studies on college HTO included fewer than five harms.…”

“…Seven articles investigated associations between independent variables (e.g., drinking levels and protective behavioral strategies) and HTO (Abar, Mallett, Turrisi, & Abar, 2016;Araas & Adams, 2008;Cabalatungan & McCarthy, 2015;Nelson, Xuan, Lee, Weitzman, & Wechsler, 2009;Presley & Pimentel, 2006;Weitzman & Chen, 2005). One article used HTO to evaluate the A Matter of Degree program (Weitzman, Nelson, Lee, & Wechsler, 2004), and five included HTO as part of an investigation into alcohol-related harms (Adlaf, Demers, & Gliksman, 2015;Hope, 2011;Rinker et al, 2017;Strunin et al, 2014;Townshend, 2013).…”

Pluralistic Ignorance Research in Psychology: A Scoping Review of Topic and Method Variation and Directions for Future Research

“…The classroom example described has not been empirically assessed, whereas the alcohol example has been widely studied (e.g., Miller & Morrison, 2009; Prentice & Miller, 1993; Rinker et al, 2017; Schroeder & Prentice, 1998). These examples are simple to comprehend, provide clear cases of pluralistic ignorance, and have easily imaginable implications.…”

“…Pluralistic ignorance of alcohol use was consistently and extensively analyzed from 1993 (Prentice & Miller, 1993) to 2017 (Rinker et al, 2017), likely because of its pressing health implications among adolescents and young adults. Researchers found that individuals misperceive others as being more comfortable drinking alcohol, and in assessments of implications, found that (at least some) individuals conform to this misperceived majority (Prentice & Miller, 1993; Rinker et al, 2017; Segrist et al, 2007). Researchers also implemented interventions to reduce alcohol use and found that teaching individuals about pluralistic ignorance could reduce conformity (i.e., people drank less alcohol; Schroeder & Prentice, 1998).…”

“…Longitudinal designs allow researchers to draw conclusions about processes across time (e.g., long-term conformity to the misperceived majority) and establish temporal precedence (e.g., showing that misperceptions at Time 1 predict behavior at Time 2); however, participant attrition is a concern, and there are constraints on drawing causal conclusions from correlational longitudinal designs. As an example of a longitudinal design, Rinker et al (2017) assessed pluralistic ignorance of attitudes toward alcohol use over a 6-month period. In addition to measuring attitudes, the researchers assessed alcohol intake per week and negative alcohol-related consequences 3 and 6 months after baseline.…”