Party on! Incoming students' expectations of their college social life.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study examines the perceptions incoming students have of their social life and the role alcohol will play once they have matriculated at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition, factors that influence these perceptions were also explored. Expectancy theory, social learning theory, and the theory of planned behavior provide the theoretical framework.
The population for this study consists of 15 recently graduated high school students, all of whom are now enrolled at UW-Madison. They were selected from three high schools in the same school district which is approximately 150 miles away from Madison in the state of Wisconsin. Data was collected from individual interviews, and was analyzed to determine themes within the whole population, and within several subgroups.
The findings from this study indicate that within students' expectations of their college social life, alcohol plays a very significant role, not only for themselves but in their perceptions of their peers and students in general. The accessibility of alcohol, the frequency of parties, meeting new people, the independence—these students are looking forward to all these things, and alcohol is a thread that connects them.
The other significant finding is that these students' expectations aren't simply based on stories they have heard from friends and family, or scenes depicted on television or in movies. For most students in this study, their expectations are based on first-hand experiences, either going to house or fraternity parties themselves, or seeing other students doing so during campus visits.
This study also demonstrates the temporal nature of factors influencing these students' expectations. During their senior year in high school, these soon-to-be college freshmen rely heavily on visits to friends already at college, and the stories these friends relate when they're home on vacation to help them paint a very clear picture of what their social life will be like and how much they anticipate they will use alcohol.
Recommendations for practice and further research are discussed, including suggestions to involve parents, educate current students about role modeling, and having universities reach out to incoming students much earlier with messages about more reasonable drinking norms on campus.