Students perception on their peers habits

I found a study that dealt with, the perception students had about their fellow peers and their drinking habits. It also looked at the information the students on these campuses were receiving about alcohol. They looked at different campuses across the country, some with high perceptions of drinking and others were drinking was still popular but not to the extent it is in some campuses. They wanted to see what the norms people on these campuses thought off, and how their thinking of these norms could influence their behavior when it came to how they drink, specifically binge drinking. They looked at over a hundred campuses across the country for their results. What they saw was that, regardless of how big drinking was at a certain campus, students consistently over estimated the amount their fellow students would drink on average. Although I am never quite sure how close these figures can be since I believe many students wouldn’t be entirely truthful when filling out a questionnaire even if they knew it was anonymous. They also found that students at campuses known for heavy drinking, would drink more and that only the schools drinking perception mattered in how much the student drank more than the actual amount his fellow peers did. What they found was that students drink more if they just feel that they should because that’s just what goes on here. I believe that college campuses should educate their students more on the actual statistics of who drinks and how much at the campuses. If students feel that the majority of their peers are drinking only moderately it is more likely they will follow suit.

Perkins, Wesley H., Michale P. Haines, and Richard Rice. "Misperceiving the College Drinking Norm and Related Problems: A Nationwide Study of Exposure to Prevention Information, Perceived Norms and Student Alcohol Misuse." Misperceiving the College Drinking Norm 66.4 (2005): 470-78. Alcohol and Drugs. Rutgers University, July 2005. Web. 24 May 2013. <http://www.jsad.com/jsad/article/Misperceiving_the_College_Drinking_Norm_and_Related_Problems_A_Nationwide_/959.html>.