Alcohol Consumption and Looking for Alternatives to Drinking in College Students
Rotter (1978) has suggested that, within social learning theory, a generalized expectancy related to internal versus external control of reinforcement (“locus of control”) is that of “looking for alternatives.” Rotter suggests that psychotherapy clients may be taught to look for alternatives to their problematic behavior. Within this framework college students were surveyed to examine the relationship between alcohol consumption and expectancy of finding satisfying alternative behaviors to drinking. After assessing the frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption, subjects were presented with a description of a situation in which a same sex friend asked them to go out for a “couple of drinks.” They were then asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 100 how likely it was that there were satisfying alternatives to following the friend’s suggestion. Results supported the hypothesis that heavier drinkers had a significantly lower expectancy that satisfactory alternatives to drinking were available. Results are discussed in terms of research and intervention with heavy-drinking college students.