Self-Control as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Drinking Identity and Alcohol Use

Abstract

This study evaluated self-control in the relationship between drinking identity and drinking. We expected those higher in drinking identity would drink more than those lower in drinking identity, particularly if low in self-control. Data were collected in 2012 via an online survey (N = 690 undergraduates, M age = 22.87, SD = 5.37, 82.50% female) at an urban university. An interaction emerged between self-control and drinking identity; self-control was negatively associated with drinking among individuals low in drinking identity, but positively associated with drinking among those high in drinking identity. Implications and future directions are discussed. This research was unfunded.

Keywords :

• drinking identity
• restraint
• theory of planned behavior

THE AUTHORS

Dawn W. Foster is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Global Health and Population department at Harvard University's School of Public Health. Her work focuses on social psychological principles related to substance misuse among individuals at risk for HIV.

Chelsie M. Young is a doctoral candidate at the University of Houston. She earned her Masters degree from College of William and Mary and her Bachelors degree from Eastern Illinois University. Her research interests include attentional, affective, and motivational influences on substance use and abuse.

Till W. Bärnighausen is an Associate Professor of Global Health and Population at the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Bärnighausen also holds an appointment at the Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Mtubatuba, South Africa. His research includes population health, economic and social impacts of global health interventions.

GLOSSARY

• Drinking identity: Extent to which a person views alcohol use as a defining characteristic of their self-identity and is an important precursor to risky drinking behavior.

• Perceived behavioral control: One's perceptions of own ability to perform a given behavior.

• Self-control: Ability to focus or monitor one's own behavior, understand consequences related to behaviors, and delay gratification.

• Subjective norms: Perceived social pressure to engage (or not to engage) in a behavior.

• Theory of planned behavior: Theory proposed by Ajzen in 1991, suggesting that subjective norms, attitudes, and perceived behavioral control conjointly influence intentions, which in turn influence behavior.