Conversely, white, wealthy, Greek affiliated, heterosexual, and male students who did not binge drink, were less happy with their social lives than students from those groups that did binge drink.
"Among all groups, we found that binge drinking and social satisfaction were strongly connected," Hsu said.
The study relied on a survey of nearly 1,600 undergraduates attending a selective Northeastern residential liberal arts college in 2009.
"Drinking culture is campus specific," Hsu said. "But, our results suggest that binge drinking and social satisfaction may also be very much associated at similar predominately white colleges with high binge drinking rates, a large Greek presence, and a residential campus."
Binge drinking is defined as consuming at least four drinks for women and five drinks for men in a single drinking session. Binge drinkers have this kind of drinking session at least once every 14 days on average. In this study, the average binge drinker drank 13.7 drinks per week, while the average non-binge drinker consumed 4.2 drinks per week. The authors assessed social satisfaction using survey questions that asked students to evaluate their overall social experience on campus.
Additionally, the authors categorized high status groups and low status groups based on previous literature regarding low graduation rates, peer discrimination, and hostile campus environments.
For example, according to the authors, LGBTQ students commonly found their campuses to be unwelcoming; women, who often enjoy more collegiate academic success than men, were more likely than their male peers to experience prejudice and sexual harassment outside of the classroom; and minority students, particularly at predominat
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| Contact: Daniel Fowler pubinfo@asanet.org 202-527-7885 American Sociological Association Source:Eurekalert |