Partying Before the Party Gets Started: The Effects of Descriptive Norms on Pregaming Behavior

Pregaming (consuming several alcoholic drinks prior to going to a bar or party) has become a common practice on many college campuses. We propose that students often rely on descriptive norms when making decisions about pregaming. In Study 1, we provided undergraduate students with norm information...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBasic and applied social psychology Vol. 33; no. 3; pp. 220 - 227
Main Authors Burger, Jerry M., LaSalvia, Christina T., Hendricks, Lauren A., Mehdipour, Tara, Neudeck, Elise M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Philadelphia, PA Taylor & Francis Group 01.07.2011
Taylor & Francis
Psychology Press
Subjects
Addictive behaviors
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Alcoholics
Alcoholism
Behavior
Biological and medical sciences
Campuses
College students
Decision making
Drinks
Gender differences
Medical sciences
Men
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Social psychology
Socialization
Undergraduate students
Human
Consumption
Alcoholic beverage
Evaluation
Decision making
Young adult
University environment
Sex
Behavior
Student
Standards
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Summary:Pregaming (consuming several alcoholic drinks prior to going to a bar or party) has become a common practice on many college campuses. We propose that students often rely on descriptive norms when making decisions about pregaming. In Study 1, we provided undergraduate students with norm information indicating that relatively few college students regularly engage in pregaming behavior. Female students receiving this information engaged in pregaming significantly less often the following week than female students who received no norm information. The rate of pregaming among male students was not affected by the norm information. The effect of norm information on pregaming was replicated in Study 2 using only female students. In addition, providing information about gender-specific norms had a greater impact on pregaming behavior than presenting norm data for the general student body only. The findings indicate that descriptive norms play an important role in pregaming behavior and suggest avenues for intervention programs.
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ISSN:0197-3533
1532-4834
DOI:10.1080/01973533.2011.589300