The Role of Sex-specific Normative Beliefs in Undergraduate Alcohol Use

OBJECTIVES: To create explanatory models of 3 undergraduate drinking practices based on sex-specific norms. METHODS: An electronic, student survey at one Mid-western university produced a representative sample of college students. RESULTS: Multivariate analyses indicated that close-friend norms were the best predictors of drinking frequency, quantity, and drunkenness. With one exception, typical student (or distal) norms had no significant relationship to drinking. Opposite-sex norms had associations with drinking above and beyond that explained by same-sex norms. CONCLUSIONS: The findings challenge the current application of the popular social norms approach that relies on distal drinking norms to provide normative feedback.