Att dricka alkohol som alla andra : En enkätstudie om alkoholkonsumtion på svenska universitet

Sammanfattning: Alcohol consumption has long been common among university students. However, alcoholconsumption is shrinking in Sweden. This study examines whether university life influencesstudents to drink alcohol still today. More specifically, what is investigated is the role ofalcohol in the social community of student life and how friends influence students' alcoholconsumption. Previous research highlights the different norms of alcohol and how friends caninfluence alcohol consumption. The theoretical framework for the study is theory regardingsocial influence and social norms. This includes Granovetter threshold model, EmileDurkheim and how the social environment and norms often influence our actions. A surveywas sent out to Swedish university students with question about their alcohol consumptionand why or how they drank alcohol. Also, if they have felt a lot of pressure to drink or if theirconsumption has increased since they started university. The result may indicate a normalization to not drink alcohol at university. At first glance, theconsumption looks relatively low, and many students answer that they have not experiencedany pressure to drink at all. However, many young students drink more alcohol than olderones, which indicates that younger university students' perception of alcohol could bedifferent from older students because they have not reached the same level of maturity in theirdrinking. Younger students may also drink more alcohol at university to fit in. About 50% ofstudents increase their alcohol consumption when they start university. Which suggests thatthere are several cohesions at the universities where alcohol can have different rolesdepending on the peer groups. Students who have many alcohol drinking friends also drinkmore alcohol themselves, which is also interesting because it may indicate that friends caninfluence each other to drink, especially for heavy drinkers and at parties. Having manyfriends and discovering many friends consume alcohol can lower the threshold for drinking.The study provides important information for future research on alcohol at the university