Thursday, September 29, 2011

Heavy Drinking

The article I chose was about a study that was performed to investigate UK university student drinking in terms of social and motivational factors. The study consisted of 50 students who were heavy drinkers and 49 students who were considered light drinkers. A questionnaire was provided that measured the student’s drinking expectancies, perceived benefits, and the drawbacks of drinking.

The study found that the heavy drinkers scored higher than light drinkers on measures of tensions reduction, sexual enhancement and dependency drinking expectancies. The top three reported benefits of drinking were social life, fun, and self confidence. The study also found that heavy drinkers perceived a lot of drawbacks to their finances as a result of drinking. The heavy drinkers were found to hang with a heavy social network and they received more encouragement to drink and participate in more heavy drinking activities than light drinkers. The study also suggested that social factors are important influences in the maintenance of heavy student drinking in the forms of peer pressure and increased self- confidence.

In conclusion, the motivational factors such as the increased self-confidence played an important role in the heavy drinkers. I like this article because I found it true that people gain self- confidence and more courage when they are drinking. This is a motivational factor that people like especially for those people who are shy.

Orford, J., Krishnan, M., Balaam, M., Everitt, M., & Van Der Graaf, K. (2004). University student drinking: The role of motivational and social factors. Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy, 11(5), 407-421. doi:10.1080/09687630310001657944

2 comments:

  1. I also like this article. I could see why self confidence is a motivating factor for drinking. From personal experience I know a few people who are shy/ sometimes socially awkward and are heavy drinkers.

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  2. I agree with this article as well. I have a friend who is very shy in social gatherings and she does not feel comfortable talking to people, but then when she drinks she will talk to everyone, gets load, and has a good time. I do feel though that she drinks way to much just to make herself feel comfortable when we are out at social events.

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