Self-perceptions of college male binge drinkers: What are they thinking?

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between the self-perceptions of college male binge drinkers and the motivations for such behavior. The subjects were social fraternity members at a major university. Potential subjects were administered a screening instrument, which determined their suitability for inclusion in the study. Five subjects were interviewed for three hours and the tapes were transcribed and entered into the QSR NUDIST program for coding and analysis. The findings were (1) that there seems to be a strong relationship between self-perceptions of drinking behavior and a core self image and that (2) there is a pervasive social component to the behavior. Seven hypotheses are advanced and implications for practice and recommendations for further research are given.