| Summary: | En kvantitativ enkätundersökning bland 72 kvinnor och 31 män från två studieinriktningar på Högskolan i Borås, utfördes i syfte att undersöka förhållandet mellan alkoholkonsumtion och upplevda alkoholnormer. Utöver skillnader mellan kön undersöktes även hur förhållandet påverkades av individuell fallenhet för anpassning till den sociala omgivningen, som mättes genom en översatt version av attention to social comparison information scale (ASCI, Lennox & Wolfe, 1984). Deltagarna angav sin genomsnittliga alkoholkonsumtion under ett typiskt tillfälle och uppskattade motsvarande deskriptiva normer (genomsnittlig alkoholkonsumtion) och preskriptiva normer (socialt accepterad konsumtionsnivå) hos två referensgrupper: vänner och andra studenter, i jämförbar ålder av samma kön som respondenten. Uppskattad alkoholkonsumtion hos både den proximala gruppen vänner och den distala gruppen andra studenter tenderade att vara högre än den egna alkoholkonsumtionen. Det fanns även signifikanta positiva samband mellan alkoholkonsumtion och upplevda normer, vilka var starkast med den proximala gruppen. ASCI hade en positivt modererande effekt på sambandet mellan alkoholkonsumtion och deskriptiv norm hos båda referensgrupperna, samt preskriptiv norm hos gruppen vänner. Manliga högkonsumenter upplevde i förhållande till kvinnliga en högre acceptans för alkoholkonsumtion bland vänner. I motsats till vad som var förväntat återfanns inga andra skillnader mellan könen. Resultaten diskuteras utifrån social norm- och social jämförelseteori och kognitiv heuristik. === A quantitative study was conducted through a survey among 72 women and 31 men from two different fields of study at the University of Borås, with the purpose to examine the relationship between alcohol consumption and perceived drinking norms. In addition to investigating gender differences, individual tendencies to pay attention and conform to social norms was measured through the attention to social comparison subscale (ASCI, Lennox & Wolfe, 1984) and further tested as a moderating variable on the relationship between consumption and perceived norms. Participants reported the number of drinks they typically consumed during one sitting. They further estimated this descriptive norm (typical alcohol consumption) and injunctive norm (socially appropriate limit of consumption) attributed to two reference groups of peers of same gender and of comparable age: “friends” and the “typical student”. As expected, descriptive norms were estimated significantly higher among both proximal and distal peers, compared to the participants’ alcohol consumption. Findings also revealed a positive correlation between alcohol consumption and perceived descriptive and injunctive norms, where norms attributed to the proximal group were found to be the strongest predictors of alcohol consumption. ASCI showed a positive moderating effect on the relation between consumption and perceived proximal descriptive and injunctive norms and perceived distal descriptive norms. Compared to female high consumers, male high consumers perceived the limit of socially accepted alcohol consumption to be higher among their friends. Contrary to the expected results, no other differences were found between males and females. The results are discussed in theoretical perspectives of social norms, social comparison and cognitive heuristics.
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