| dc.description.abstract | College students spend more money on alcohol than they do on books, coffee,
tea, juice and soda, combined (Wechsler & Wuerthrich, 2002). Recent studies have
shown that binge drinking rates range from 34 to 44% of college students (Douglas et
al., 1997; Wechsler, Davenport, Dowdall, Moeykens & Castillo, 1994; Wechsler, Lee,
Kuo, Seibring, Nelson & Lee, 2002). Alcohol is so prevalent in the college
environment, that students, parents and even professors link the college experience with
excessive drinking (Butler, 1993; Lederman, Stewart & Russ, 2007).
Yet, the risks of binge drinking (Lederman, Stewart, Goodhart & Laitman,
2003) are serious. Research has identified a wide variety of harmful consequences as a
result of excessive drinking among college students. These risks include: unprotected
sexual behavior (Desiderato & Crawford, 1995), blackouts (Perkins, 2002), and even
death (Hingson, Heeren, Zakocs, Kopstein & Wechsler, 2002). Perhaps even more
alarming is the annual frequencies of these negative consequences, identified by
Hingson et al. (2002), including 600,000 student assaults, 500,000 accidental injuries
and 1,400 deaths.
In an attempt to deal with this alarming information campus administrators have
developed campaigns and programs designed to curb college drinking. However,
results have been elusive, as dangerous drinking has not declined over the past decade
(Faden & Fay, 2002; Wechsler et al., 2002; Hingson et al., 2005; Larimer & Crone,
2002; Peele, 2006; Wechsler, Lee, Kuo & Lee, 2000). In order to craft the most
effective message, one must consider the reaction of the intended audience.
Festinger’s (1957) Cognitive Dissonance Theory provides insight into the
cognitive processes individuals experience when they receive information that is
counter to their beliefs. Festinger states that information that challenges the beliefs or
behavior an individual already has will create psychological discomfort. The theory
continues to suggest there are predictable responses that form individuals experience
that discomfort, or dissonance: they will accept the information as accurate but make no
changes, accept the information as accurate and make changes, they will attack the
messenger as incredible or they will rationalize the information in some way to relieve
the discomfort.
The present study applied Festinger’s (1957) Cognitive Dissonance Theory to
alcohol public service messages. Participants were measured to determine whether they
were currently in a state of dissonance concerning their alcohol use. The participants
then viewed three alcohol public service announcements, concerning alcohol poisoning,
date rape and drunk driving. The researcher captured responses the participants had in
order to determine if particular dissonance-reducing strategies were utilized.
Three conclusions are offered. College students appear to be utilizing “attack
the messenger” regarding messages of binge drinking and drunk driving, while utilizing
rationalization when viewing messages of date rape. Additionally, for all message
contents, the students responded that they did not intend to change their behaviors
based on the information presented. The results of this study can be illuminating to
alcohol educators, campus administrators and future scholars. | en |
