Every university has never stopped to lower the numbers of alcohol abuse, but most of their methods were not effective. What Michael Haines, the coordinator of Northern Illinois University’s Health Enhancement Services, found out after attending a conference on alcohol was that students’ heavy drinking behavior is influenced by their peers. Professor Perkins and psychologist Berkowitz have done surveys which showed students always overestimated the amount of how much their peers are drinking when asked by researchers. Then the conclusion they drew was “maybe students’ drinking behavior could be changed by just telling them the truth.” The numbers of drinks actually did decreased when Haines tried on his school with posters and newspapers telling students the true number that others have when they party. We do not realize how fast others can affect us and we often deny this fact. Since we can’t tell people what to do, we can change this social norm by telling them what others like them are doing.
Article link: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/27/the-destructive-influence-of-imaginary-peers/?_r=0
Image link: http://static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Peer+pressure.+Don+t+jump+off+that+cliff+that+your+friends_8919fe_4681378.png
