The relationship between social identity, normative information, and college student drinking

This research was supported in part by a grant to James E. Lange from the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse U01 AA014738.

Figures & data

Table 1. Correlations between participant demographics, social identity, injunctive norms, and drinks per occasion (DPO)

Variable	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Mean	SD
1. Gender	1.00	−.109^∗∗	.045	−.054	−.073	.031	.225^∗∗	.024	.101^∗	.212^∗∗	.	.
2. Race (white/non‐white)		1.00	.045	−.063	.007	−.074	−.192^∗∗	−.098^∗	−.105^∗	−.233^∗∗	.	.
3. Age			1.00	−.093^∗	−.127^∗∗	−.138^∗∗	−.013	−.068	−.040	−.078	20.28	2.16
4. Identification with friends				1.00	.517^∗∗	.135^∗∗	.016	−.071	−.056	.219^∗∗	5.73	1.26
5. Identification with peers					1.00	.313^∗∗	.023	−.251^∗∗	−.141^∗∗	.181^∗∗	4.16	1.34
6. Identification with fraternity/sorority						1.00	.060	−.038	−.105^∗∗	.152^∗	1.40	0.81
7. Injunctive norms: Friends							1.00	.243^∗∗	.261^∗∗	.455^∗∗	2.58	1.05
8. Injunctive Norms: Peers								1.00	.669^∗∗	−.010	3.70	1.10
9. Injunctive Norms: Fraternity/sorority									1.00	.070	4.55	1.25
10. Drinks per occasion										1.00	3.12	2.87
^∗ p<.05, ^∗∗ p<.01.

Table 2. Results of a hierarchical regression analysis predicting drinks per occasion (DPO) as a function of identifying with friends and perceptions of friends' approval of heavy drinking

Step	Variable	B	β	R^2 change	R^2 total
1	Gende[rcirc]	0.696	0.112 ^∗∗
	Race/Ethnicity	−0.829	−0.144 ^∗∗∗	0.089 ^∗∗∗	0.089 ^∗∗∗
2	Identity with friends	0.424	0.183 ^∗∗∗
	Perceptions of friends' approval of heavy drinking	1.069	0.387 ^∗∗∗	0.176 ^∗∗∗	0.265 ^∗∗∗
3	Identity X drinking approval	0.205	0.104 ^∗∗	0.011 ^∗∗	0.276 ^∗∗∗
N = 537. ^‡Race/Ethnicity. white = 1, non‐white = 2, ^∘gender: female = 1 and male = 2.^∗ p<.05, ^∗∗ p<.001, ^∗∗∗ p<.001

Figure 1. Two‐way interaction between identification with friends and perceptions of friends' acceptance of heavy drinking.

Table 3. Results of a hierarchical regression analysis predicting drinks per occasion (DPO) as a function of identifying with peers and perceptions of peers' approval of heavy drinking

Step	Variable	B	β	R^2 change	R^2 total
1	Gende[rcirc]	1.224	0.200 ^∗∗∗
	Race/Ethnicity	−1.282	−0.225 ^∗∗∗	0.095 ^∗∗∗	0.095 ^∗∗∗
2	Identity with university peers	0.373	0.177 ^∗∗∗
	Perceptions of university peers' approval of heavy drinking	0.023	0.009	0.034 ^∗∗∗	0.129 ^∗∗∗
3	Identity X drinking approval	0.157	0.089 ^∗	0.008 ^∗	0.137 ^∗∗∗
N = 520. ^‡Race/Ethnicity. white = 1, non‐white = 2, ^∘gender: female = 1 and male = 2.^∗ p<.05, ^∗∗ p<.001, ^∗∗∗ p<.001

Figure 2. Two‐way interaction between identification with peers and perceptions of peers' acceptance of heavy drinking.

Table 4. Results of a hierarchical regression analysis predicting drinks per occasion (DPO) as a function of identifying with Greek‐letter members and perceptions of Greek‐letter members' approval of heavy drinking

Step	Variable	B	β	R^2 change	R^2 total
1	Gende[rcirc]	0.829	0.132 ^∗∗
	Race/Ethnicity	−1.113	−0.191 ^∗∗∗	0.075 ^∗∗∗	0.075 ^∗∗∗
2	Identity with Greek‐letter members	0.764	0.228 ^∗∗∗
	Perceptions of Greek‐letter members' approval of heavy drinking	0.107	0.046	0.023 ^∗∗∗	0.099 ^∗∗
3	Identity X drinking approval	0.340	0.178 ^∗∗	0.025 ^∗	0.124 ^∗∗
N = 391. ^‡Race/Ethnicity. white = 1, non‐white = 2, ^∘gender: female = 1 and male = 2.^∗ p<.05, ^∗∗ p<.001, ^∗∗∗ p<.001

Figure 3. Two‐way interaction between identification with Greek‐letter members and perceptions of Greek‐letter members' acceptance of heavy drinking.