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Cited by 29Substance Abuse Treatment and OutcomesMedia Influence and HealthAlcohol Consumption and Health Effects

Estimates and influences of reflective opposite-sex norms on alcohol use among a high-risk sample of college students: Exploring Greek-affiliation and gender effects

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Hummer, Justin F., LaBrie, Joseph W., Lac, Andrew, Sessoms, Ashley, Cail, Jessica·2012·Addictive Behaviors
DOI 10.1016/j.addbeh.2011.11.027PMC PMC3395330
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Abstract

Reflective opposite sex norms are behavior that an individual believes the opposite sex prefers them to do. The current study extends research on this recently introduced construct by examining estimates and influences of reflective norms on drinking in a large high-risk heterosexual sample of male and female college students from two universities. Both gender and Greek-affiliation served as potential statistical moderators of the reflective norms and drinking relationship. All participants (N=1790; 57% female) answered questions regarding the amount of alcohol they believe members of the opposite sex would like their opposite sex friends, dates, and sexual partners to drink. Participants also answered questions regarding their actual preferences for drinking levels in each of these three relationship categories. Overall, women overestimated how much men prefer their female friends and potential sexual partners to drink, whereas men overestimated how much women prefer their sexual partners to drink. Greek-affiliated males demonstrated higher reflective norms than non-Greek males across all relationship categories, and for dating partners, only Greek-affiliated males misperceived women's actual preferences. Among women however, there were no differences between reflective norm estimates or the degree of misperception as a function of Greek status. Most importantly, over and above perceived same-sex social norms, higher perceived reflective norms tended to account for greater variance in alcohol consumption for Greeks (vs. non-Greeks) and males (vs. females), particularly within the friend and sexual partner contexts. The findings highlight that potential benefits might arise if existing normative feedback interventions were augmented with reflective normative feedback designed to target the discrepancy between perceived and actual drinking preferences of the opposite sex.

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  • Hummer et al. (2012) found fraternity members self-reported having an average of 20.92 drinks per week versus 11.74 for nonmembers.

    “More recently, Hummer, LaBrie, Lac, Sessoms, and Cail (2012) using the DDQ in a single-institution study, found fraternity members self-reported having an average of 20.92 (sd = 14.18) drinks per week versus 11.74 (sd = 9.03) for nonmembers.”

    From The Influence of Fraternity and Sorority Involvement: A Critical Analysis of Research (1996–2013) (2014) · cites this paper as Hummer et al. (2012)

    Methods §2.2.3 says the study used the DDQ to calculate self-reported weekly drinks, and Results §3.2 reports that Greek-affiliated men drank significantly more per week than non-Greek men. The passages retrieved do not give the claimed means or standard deviations, so those figures cannot be verified from our copy. Methods §2.1 also says participants were recruited from two campuses, contrary to the citing sentence’s description of a single-institution study; page numbers were not available. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Hummer et al. (2012) found sorority members reported an average of 11.11 drinks per week versus 7.53 among nonaffiliates.

    “Sorority members reported an average of 11.11 (sd = 7.29) drinks per week versus 7.53 (sd = 5.95) among nonaffiliates.”

    From The Influence of Fraternity and Sorority Involvement: A Critical Analysis of Research (1996–2013) (2014) · cites this paper as Hummer et al. (2012)

    The Results (§3.2 Mean Differences; page unavailable) report that Greek-affiliated women drank significantly more per week than non-Greek women. The retrieved passages do not give the claimed means of 11.11 and 7.53 or the standard deviations of 7.29 and 5.95, so those figures cannot be verified from our copy. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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Authors
Hummer, J. F., LaBrie, J. W., Lac, A., Sessoms, A., & Cail, J.
Affiliations
Loyola Marymount University (US)
Corresponding author
LaBrie, Joseph W.
ORCID
Venue
Addictive Behaviors
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2012-05
Volume
37
Issue
5
Pages
596-604
ISSN
0306-4603 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.addbeh.2011.11.027
PMC
PMC3395330
OpenAlex
W2112839987
Cited by
29
References
61
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 3
FWCI
1.21
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Addictive Behaviors (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R01AA012547)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Media Influence and Health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects
Keywords
alcohol consumption, university students, Greek life, fraternities and sororities, gender differences, sexual partners, dating partners, friendship, hazardous drinking
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Alcohol Drinking, Female, Greece, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Men, Sexual Partners, Social Facilitation, Social Identification, Social Perception, Students, United States, Women, Friends, Young Adult

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