A study of undergraduate drinking behavior, attitudes, and membership in Greek letter social organizations

Alcohol is a part of college life for many students. Numerous studies have shown the prevalence of alcohol use by undergraduates. Fewer studies have focused on the use of alcohol by members of fraternities and sororities. There are no studies presently available which explore the motivations for drinking or the risks perceived to be associated with drinking by these groups, however. What is clear is that alcohol is a highly destructive and highly abused drug, especially among college age youth. Studies show that motivations and risk perceptions are not unrelated to drinking behavior.The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between Greek membership, alcohol consumption, motivations for drinking, and risks perceived to be associated with drinking behaviors. The research instrument was a 180 item questionnaire employing items used in the National Institute on Drug Abuse's annual national survey of high school and college students. The instrument was developed at Arizona State University. A sample of undergraduates with no Greek affiliation (n = 342) was compared to a sample of Greeks (n = 158).Among the major findings are that Greeks drank more frequently and in greater amounts than non-Greeks. Also, Greeks drank significantly greater quantities of alcohol during the month preceding the administration of the survey than did non-Greeks. The groups differed significantly in four of fourteen motivations for drinking when the total groups were compared, but did not differ significantly when sub-groups based on consumption were compared. Greeks perceived significantly less risk to be associated with four of five behaviors examined than non-Greeks when the total groups were compared. The differences vanished when consumption-based sub-groups were compared.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio