Citation

Park A, Sher KJ, Krull JL. Psychol. Addict. Behav. 2006; 20(1): 85-90.

Affiliation

Department of Psychological SciencesUniversity of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO, US. apqzb@mizzou.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/0893-164X.20.1.85

PMID

16536670

Abstract

Although the environmental influence of Greek (university fraternity group) affiliation on drinking has been established, little is known about intrapersonal characteristics that make individuals susceptible to this influence. Self-consciousness (attending to one's self) was hypothesized to represent dispositional vulnerability to environmental influence. The potential moderating effect of self-consciousness on the relation between Greek involvement and drinking was examined longitudinally among college students (N = 319). The effect of Greek status was moderated by private and public self-consciousness and by gender. Specifically, non-Greek members' drinking was not influenced by self-consciousness. However, sorority members increased drinking as private self-consciousness increased, whereas fraternity members increased drinking as private and public self-consciousness decreased. These findings indicate that the "Greek effect" interacts with individual characteristics to affect drinking.