Examining the Complex Relationship Between Greek Life and Alcohol: A Literature Review

Abstract

❖ This literature review addresses the question of whether membership in a Greek organization contributes to the drinking behaviors of college students. Research findings are divided into these major categories: drinking frequency, motivation/reasons to drink, predicting Greek membership, culture of Greek life, perception bias, and consequences of drinking. Conclusions suggest that to be successful, intervention efforts must focus not only on individuals but also on organizational and institutional layers. Risky Drinking + Greeks -Responsibility = Tragic EventNot all alcohol-related tragedies on college campuses are connected to the Greek system. However, the perceptions of many within and outside academia place Greeks at the center of alcohol problems, especially binge drinking.

Dual mechanisms underlying accentuation of risky drinking via fraternity/sorority affiliation: The role of personality, peer norms, and alcohol availability.

“…Recent narrative reviews of Greek drinking have uniformly suggested that perceived peer drinking norms play a pivotal role in sustaining risky drinking within the Greek system (Barry, 2007; Borsari & Carey, 1999; Danielson, Taylor, & Hartford, 2001). Greek members report higher perceived peer descriptive (Baer, 1994; Baer, Stacy, & Larimer, 1991) and injunctive (Alva, 1998) norms than do nonmembers.…”

Using Theory-Based Constructs to Explore the Impact of Greek Membership on Alcohol-Related Beliefs and Behaviors: A Systematic Literature Review

“…I analyzed prior research, including Drinking in College 3 and various literature reviews, 6 in unison with the most recent scientific literature to provide a comprehensive depiction of the alcoholrelated beliefs and behaviors of collegiate Greek members. Last, to provide practitioners and program developers with a theoretically based analysis of alcohol-related concerns among Greek members, I organize my findings into a framework of various health behavior theoretical constructs based on the ecological perspective.…”

“…The initial search process yielded 31 compatible studies; 18 were cited as references in Examining the Complex Relationship between Greek Life and Alcohol: A Literature Review. 6 I analyzed these previously reviewed articles for 2 reasons: (1) to provide a single, comprehensive analysis of the scientific literature assessing how Greek membership affects alcoholrelated beliefs and behaviors and (2) to eliminate assumptions concerning the accuracy of results reported in previous literature reviews. The remaining 13 research articles were not included in past literature reviews.…”

Identifying factors that increase the likelihood of driving after drinking among college students

“…Students who are members of fraternities or sororities tend to consume alcohol more frequently, in larger quantities, and encounter more alcohol-related problems than students not affiliated with these organizations (Barry, 2007; Cashin et al, 1998; Danielson et al, 2001; Sher et al, 2001). While there is little research focusing specifically on DAD among fraternity or sorority affiliated college students, studies conducted byCashin et al (1998) and Wechsler et al(2003) have found greater prevalence of this risky behavior among students in their sample who were involved with fraternities and sororities than among those who were not.…”