How social norms affect the perceived riskiness of alcohol use amongst students

Students’ drinking habits and beliefs (including the risks of alcohol) are largely shaped by their environment. This study conducted two experiments to understand how students evaluate the health risks associated with alcohol consumption.¹

Specifically, they test whether students use a rank-based system to compare their drinking behavior to others’ in order to assess the riskiness of their own behavior. The first study surveyed students on their own drinking, their perception of others’ drinking behavior, and their perceived risk of developing alcohol-related disorders. The second study examined how context affects students’ perceived risk of drinking. The studies found that students do not make risk assessments by comparing to the average amount of alcohol consumed by others, but rather, their judgment is based on where their consumption ranks amongst a selected sample.