Research recognizes stereotypes

University social norms campaigns do not have much success in influencing students' drinking behaviors, as was previously believed, according to a University of Iowa study.\nThe study, published in the latest issue of Health Communication, reports college students are influenced more by the perceptions of their friends' drinking behaviors than by university promotions.\nThe campaigns, in the form of ads, posters and education programs, correct misconceptions about how much students really drink, informing students that most of their peers do so only moderately. \n"These campaigns are based on the assumption that students don't really know what the correct norm is, that they are likely to underestimate how many people are really drinking responsibly and that a 'correct' message will change their behavior," said Dr. Shelly Campo, assistant professor of community and behavioral health at the University of Iowa.\nThe study was done to test the accuracy of social norms campaigns and whether they should be credited with complete success. Campo said there have been problems in previous studies of the issue. \n"Testing before this point was not done in controlled settings," Campo said. "Universities have touted lots of success with these campaigns, but what they don't say is that they also have extra alcohol education, peer to peer programs and more negative consequences, such as parental notification. So while social norms campaigns weren't the entire reason, they credited the new campaigns with the entire success."\nAfter the expression of success in social norms campaigns, many universities began to add similar campaigns on their own campuses, giving researchers reason to wonder if students felt these campaigns really worked. \n"I think this is another study that says you need to be careful about jumping on the bandwagon for this campaign that has a lot of popularity," Campo said. "Just because a lot of universities are showing success doesn't mean it's effective. You must examine the research evidence, make informed decisions about your own university and see if it's likely to work where you are and then continuously evaluate its success."\nThe study also found that students are not affected by what they believe the "typical" student drinks, which is the basis of social norms campaigns.\n"While the study found that social norm campaigns don't greatly affect students, that doesn't mean I don't think they should be a part of every university," Campo said. "I think that they can work, but I think the educational sources have to be... interpersonal (and) preferably peer-to-peer. The information seems more credible coming from another student and would probably have a greater impact."\nWhile universities may continue to use the campaigns, some IU students agreed with the study's conclusions.\n"If you are told not that many people are really drinking as much as we think, yet you see all of your friends drinking, it casts some doubt on the truth of these campaigns," freshman Amanda Gerson said. "You go by what you see, and if you see a lot of people at parties or on campus drunk, that's what you are going to believe, not what a campaign wants you to think."\nIU Applied Health Science Professor Ruth Engs said lowering the drinking age in controlled settings is the answer to dangerous drinking levels. \n"When they have the opportunity to drink, they do so in an irresponsible manner because drinking by these youth is seen as an enticing 'forbidden fruit,' a 'badge of rebellion against authority' and a symbol of 'adulthood'," Engs wrote in an article that appeared in the Vermont Quarterly in 1999. "Our data suggests after the 21-year-old drinking law was passed in 1987, that there was an increase in problems related to drinking on college campuses."\nEngs believes the proper education in conjunction with lowering of the drinking age would provide the best solution.\n"As a nation we are a very unsophisticated in terms of drinking," Engs said. "Other countries teach what foods go well with drinks and help them be more alcohol educated. If the drinking age were lowered, perhaps students could apply for alcohol licenses like they do for driving, and they have to become educated just like in drivers ed before they can use it." \nJunior Steve Cohen agrees with Engs about lowering the drinking age, but believes it should be an overall change, not just in controlled settings. \n"The only true solution to this social dilemma is to lower the drinking age for everyone, to take the risk/reward part of the equation away and just make it a social norm," Cohen said. "Alcohol has its own draw, especially for people under 21, purely for its rebellious nature. Take away that rebellion by making it legal, and it would then go from being abused by many to being a thing to do with some friends."\nGerson said when it comes from staff or faculty, the message isn't as strong as what students actually see when they are around their friends.\n"When the University tells you not to drink, students are going to want to," Gerson said. "It's the same as when you see a sign that says 'wet paint'. It's a warning, but you're still going to want to touch it."\n-- Contact staff writer Mallory Simon at mgsimon@indiana.edu.