REACTANCE THEORY AND DRINKING LEGISLATION

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Date

1988-10-04

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Abstract

PURPOSE: the purpose of this study was to test Reactance Theory among a sample of university students over a seven year period in which the drinking laws were undergoing change in the United States. Reactance Theory suggests that telling underage students it is illegal to drink is likely to be counterproductive. Since July l987, it has been illegal in the United States for those under 21 years of age to purchase alcohol. METHODS: A sample of 3,375 college students during the l987-l988 academic year using the Student Alcohol Questionnaire (SAQ ) was collected throughout the nation. RESULTS: it was revealed that significantly more underage students (81%) drank compared to legal age drinkers (75%) and were heavy or at risk drinkers (24%) compared to legal age students (l5%). They also exhibited more drinking related problems. CONCLUSIONS: the results of this study support Reactance Theory and suggest that the "21 year old drinking laws" are counter productive among this national sample of college students..

Description

Other research papers on student drinking can be found at:: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/17130/browse?type=dateissued; https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/17127/browse?type=dateissued and https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/17124/browse?type=dateissued. Further information about the questionnaire, calculations used for the study, and the original data base can be found in the following item records within IUScholarworks repository. Details about the reliability and validity of the SAQ are found at: http://hdl.handle.net/2022/17154; http://hdl.handle.net/2022/17181. The classic SAQ is found at http://hdl.handle.net/2022/17153. ALL QUESTIONNAIRES developed by Engs are found in the repository at: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/17141/browse?type=dateissued

Keywords

Underage drinking, drinking age, harm reduction, reactance theory, drinking problems, binge drinking, alcoholism

Citation

Engs, R.C. & Hanson, D.J.(1988) REACTANCE THEORY AND DRINKING LEGISLATION. Paper Presented: Annual Meeting, Eastern Sociological Association, New York, October 8, 1988. Retrieved from IUScholarworks repository: http://hdl.handle.net/2022/172967

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This work is licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license. For permission to reuse this work for commercial purposes, please contact Dr. Ruth Engs or the IU Archives.

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Presentation