Social Norms Study

Our behavior is influenced by our perceptions of of how other members of our social groups think and act. Social norms focus on peer influences which have a greater impact on individual behavior rather than biological, personality, familial, religious, cultural and other influences (Berkowitz & Perkins, 1986A; Perkins, 2002). Peer influences are based more on what we think our peers believe and do (the "perceived norm") than on their real beliefs and actions (the "actual norm"). This study will explore how the mere presence of others or the perception of their preferences can create a motivation to change one 's behavior to conform to the rest of the groups behavior specifically relating to substance abuse. INTRODUCTION Social influences
Dipali V. R., Clayton N., (2014). In a social norms study done by Alan other research done by Alan D. Berkowitz states that our behavior is influenced by incorrect perceptions of how other members of our social groups think and act. A social norm intervention was done in order to focus on peer influences. It was based on the perceived norm and the actual norm. The study focused on the different types of misperceptions and how it influences their behavior. Recent research noted that affiliations with alcohol-consuming peer groups were significantly associated with increase alcohol consumption. (Moore, C. G.,et.al, 2012). Prominent research concluded that perception is perhaps the strongest predictor of alcohol consumption are influenced by peers more than other social factors. (Moore, C. G.,et.al, 2012).This study focused on a population who were all first-year students living in 9 freshmen residence halls. The study was done to focus on peer influences during a major life transition. The study involved 4 survey waves at 30 day intervals. Students were instructed to write in numeric value of the average number of alcoholic drinks consumed in a session in the past 30 days. A 6-item sub-scale was used to assess the role of social modeling influence among college students who were all current drinkers. The mean number of drinks reported
It states thats a persons position within his or her social group determines when he or she will adopt a behavior and the role that this person will play in spreading the behavior to others. This specific study tracks smoking and drinking behavior within college students, especially fraternity members. An online questionnaire was sent to members and three years after the initial questionnaire they were asked to fill out a follow-up questionnaire. The results showed that non-smokers who hung out with other smokers were highly likely to pick up smoking over a period of time. As well as drinking, those who hung out with others who consumed more alcohol increased their number of drinks per day, and those hung out with others who consumed less alcohol decreased their number of drinks per day. Phua. J.,