Comparing Entering Freshmen's Perceptions of Campus Marijuana and Alcohol Use to Reported Use

Use of marijuana and alcohol among current college students (N = 1101) was compared to the perceptions and use of entering freshmen (N = 481) surveyed before the start of classes. Entering freshmen significantly misperceived campus norms for marijuana use, over-estimating that almost every student u...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of drug education Vol. 39; no. 2; pp. 133 - 148
Main Authors Gold, Gregg J, Nguyen, Alyssa T
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Baywood Publishing Company, Inc 01.01.2009
Subjects
Adult
Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology
Alcohol Drinking - psychology
California
California - epidemiology
College Freshmen
Comparative Analysis
Drinking
Educational Environment
Female
Humans
Male
Marijuana
Marijuana Abuse - epidemiology
Marijuana Abuse - psychology
Misconceptions
Peer Group
Perception
Social Attitudes
Social Environment
Social Influences
Student Attitudes
Student Behavior
Students - psychology
Universities
Young Adult
California
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Summary:Use of marijuana and alcohol among current college students (N = 1101) was compared to the perceptions and use of entering freshmen (N = 481) surveyed before the start of classes. Entering freshmen significantly misperceived campus norms for marijuana use, over-estimating that almost every student used in the last 30 days, p less than 0.001. Perceptions of alcohol use were relatively accurate. These discrepancies in perception could account for why 40.5% of entering students perceived the campus atmosphere to be promoting marijuana use, whereas only 16.2% perceived the campus atmosphere to be promoting alcohol use. How these misperceptions of social norms might be influenced by the reputation of the campus-and how this might affect potential applicants and enrolled students' behaviors are discussed.
ISSN:0047-2379
DOI:10.2190/DE.39.2.b