For undergraduate populations, binge drinking is a common practice and risky drinking behaviours such as these have been associated with negative consequences for individuals and society. This thesis aims to gain a better understanding of young peoples’ decisions to binge drink using a social psychological perspective. Two online (N=229 and N=313) and one lab-based (N=122) longitudinal and experimental studies use quantitative methods to gather data on the binge drinking behaviour of undergraduate students at an English university, using questionnaires based on an expanded Theory of Planned behaviour (TPB) alongside experimental social identity interventions. The findings support the use of social cognitive models to the study of risky health behaviours, particularly the application of an expanded TPB to the prediction of undergraduates’ binge drinking showing that it can account for between 65 and 75% of the variance in students’ intentions to binge drink and between 44 and 60% of the variance in students’ self-reported binge drinking behaviour. Social identity variables (e.g. self-identity) played an important role in the expanded model suggesting there is scope for further improvements. Implications for future research, including further additions to the TPB model and suggestions for interventions to reduce risky drinking are presented.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:716388 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Howard, Gregory |
| Publisher | University of East Anglia |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/63529/ |
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