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Social Norms

Just The Facts...

OSU Students Don't Drink As Much As You Might Think

According to the Spring 2009 ACHA-National College Health Assessment II survey:

• More than half of OSU students choose NOT to binge drink (consume 5 or more drinks in a sitting).
• The majority (77%) of OSU students have fewer than 7 drinks when they party.
• Most (70%) of OSU students have NOT driven a car under the influence of alcohol in the past year.
• Approximately 20% of OSU students choose not to drink at all!

The majority of OSU students "party" safely:

• 77% use a designated driver.
• 77% eat before and/or while drinking.
• 60% keep track of how many drinks they've had.
• 87% stay with the same group of friends the entire time they party.

Source: Student Life Assessment

Why Social Norms?

To inform students that the majority of their peers ARE making responsible decisions.The campaign uses health promotion avenues such as posters, advertising, and other mediums to promote healthy decisions and behaviors regarding drinking and sexual responsibility.In addition, the Social Norms Campaign educates students about the "true norms" on campus and lets students know that they do not have to drink or engage in risky sexual activity to "fit in".The jury is still out on whether the social norms approach is effective in combating high risk drinking on college campuses. The use of any single prevention program alone is probably not the most effective approach at addressing the complex issues surrounding high risk drinking. The Student Wellness Center at OSU utilizes a social norms campaign in conjunction with eight other components, as part of a comprehensive alcohol abuse prevention plan. 

Social Norms Theory

The Social Norms Theory implies that people would rather be "normal" than "healthy," and that many of their decisions and behaviors will be based on what they perceive most of their peers are doing. Research shows, however, that most students have a "misperception" of what is actually occurring among their peers. In the case of alcohol use, this misperception that "everyone drinks" on a college campus can increase the likelihood that students will engage in high risk drinking to "fit in" with what they perceive as normative behavior. The goal of a social norms marketing campaign is to correct these misperceptions by providing students with positive messages, based on reliable research data, that the majority of their peers are making healthy and responsible decisions.

For more information, visit the National Social Norms Resource Center: http://www.socialnorms.org/

For more information about The Social Norms Campaign, call the Student Wellness Center at 292-4527.

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