Actively pursuing important goals predicts positive affect and well-being (Emmons, 1986, J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 51: 1058–1068; Emmons and King, 1988, J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 54: 1040–1048; Salmela-Aro and Nurmi, 1997, J. Adult Dev. 4: 179–188). College-bound high school graduates (n=943) completed the ULTRA Orientation Survey prior to college. Planned alcohol use differed by gender, fraternity/sorority participation, and Honors membership. Students who appraised academic goals as more important and less difficult/stressful planned to consume less alcohol in their 1st year of college. Greater importance and lower difficulty/stressfulness of social goals predicted more planned drinking. Relationships of personal goals with drinking remained after controlling for group differences, and academic and social goal importance predicted plans to drink after controlling for alcohol use during high school senior year. The discussion focuses on the impact of goal appraisals on risk behavior, niche selection during the transition to college, and implications for the prevention of heavy drinking.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Six 2-way interactions were tested for 2 goal domains (importance, difficultness/stressfulness) predicting 2 planned alcohol outcomes (frequency and quantity), resulting in 24 2-way interactions in total.
REFERENCES
Aiken, L. S., and West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Alva, S. A. (1998). Self-reported alcohol use of college fraternity and sorority members. J. Coll. Stud. Dev. 39: 3–10.
Arnett, J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. Am. Psychol. 55: 469–480.
Baer, J. S. (2002). Student factors: Understanding individual variation in college drinking. J. Stud. Alcohol Suppl. No. 14, 40–53.
Baer, J. S., Kivlahan, D. R., Blume, A. W., McKnight, P., and Marlatt, G. A. (2001). Brief intervention for heavy drinking college students: Four-year follow-up and natural history. Am. Public Health 91: 1310–1316.
Cantor, N., and Sanderson, C. (1998). The functional regulation of adolescent dating relationships and sexual behavior: An interaction of goals, strategies and situations. In Heckhausen, J. and Dweck, C. (eds.), Motivation and Self-Regulation Across the Life Span. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 185–215
Cantor, N., Norem, J., Niedenthal, P., Langston, C., and Brower, A. (1987). Life tasks, self-concept ideals, and cognitive strategies in a life transition. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 53: 1178–1191.
Cantor, N., Norem, J., Langston, C., Zirkel, S., Fleeson, W., and Cook-Flannagan, C. (1991). Life tasks and daily life experiences. J. Pers. 59: 425–451.
Cashin, J. R., Presley, C. A., and Meilman, P. W. (1998). Alcohol use in the Greek system: Follow the leader? J. Stud. Alcohol 59: 63–70.
Cooper, M. L., Agocha, V. B., and Sheldon, M. S. (2000). A motivational perspective on risky behaviors: The role of personality and affect regulatory processes. J. Pers. 68: 1059–1088.
Cooper, M. L., Frone, M. R., Russell, M., and Mudar, P. (1995). Drinking to regulate positive and negative emotions: A motivational model of alcohol use. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 69: 990–1005.
De Jong, W., and Langford, L. M. (2002). A typology for campus-based alcohol prevention: Moving toward environmental management strategies. J. Stud. Alcohol Suppl. No. 14 140–147.
Dimeff, L. A., Baer, J. S., Kivlahan, D. R., and Marlatt, G. A. (1999). Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS): A Harm Reduction Approach. Guilford Press, New York.
Donovan, J. E., Costa, F. M., and Jessor, R. (1985). Health questionnaire. University of Colorado, Institute of Behavioral Science, Boulder, CO.
Emmons, R. A. (1986). Personal strivings: An approach to personality and subjective well-being. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 51: 1058–1068.
Emmons, R. A., and King, L. A. (1988). Conflict among personal strivings: Immediate and long-term implications for psychological and physical well-being. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 54: 1040–1048.
Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and Crisis. Norton, New York.
Heckhausen, J., and Schulz, R. (1998). Developmental regulation in adulthood: Selection and compensation via primary and secondary control. In Heckhausen, J., and Dweck, C. (eds.), Motivation and Self-Regulation Across the Life Span. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 50–77.
Jessor, R., Corman, R., and Grossman, P. (1968). Expectations of need satisfaction and drinking patterns of college students. Q. J. Stud. Alcohol 29: 101–116.
Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., and Bachman, J. G. (2003). National survey results on drug use, 1975-2002. College Students and Adult Ages 19–40, Vol. 2. National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH Publ. No. 03-5376, Bethesda, MD.
Karwacki, S., and Bradley, J. (1996). Coping, drinking motives, goal attainment expectancies and family models in relation to alcohol use among college students. J. Drug Educ. 26: 243–255.
Korn, M. E., and Maggs, J. L. (2004). Why drink less? Diffidence, self-presentation styles, and alcohol use among university students. J. Youth Adolesc. 33: 201–211.
Lall, R., and Schandler, S. L. (1991). Michigan alcohol screening test (MAST) scores and academic performance in college students. Coll. Stud. J. 25: 245–251.
Lee, C. M. (1999). University life transitions project: Open- ended personal goals coding manual. Unpublished manuscript, University of Arizona, Tucson.
Lerner, R. M. (1982). Children and adolescents as producers of their own development. Dev. Rev. 2: 342–370.
Määtä, S., Stattin, H., and Nurmi, J.-E. (2002). Achievement strategies at school: Types and correlates. J. Adolesc.. 25: 31–46.
Maggs, J. L. (1997). Alcohol use and binge drinking as goal-directed action during the transition to post secondary education. In Schulenberg, J., Maggs, J. L., and Hurrelmann, K. (eds.), Health risks and development transitions during adolescence Cambridge University Press, New York, pp. 345–371.
Maney, D. (1990). Predicting university students’ use of alcoholic beverages. J. Coll. Stud. Dev. 31: 23–32.
Maney, W., Mortensen, S., Powell, M. P., Lozinska-Lee, M., Kennedy, S., and Moore, B. (2002). Alcohol-free alternative activities for university students: Modeling associated drinking behaviors. Am. J. Health Educ. 33: 225–233.
Marlatt, G. A., Baer, J. S., Kivlahan, D. R., Dimeff, L. A., Larimer, M. E., Quigley, L. A., Somers, J. M., and Williams, E. (1998). Screening and brief intervention for high-risk college student drinkers: Results from a two-year follow-up assessment. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 66: 604–615.
Musgrave-Marquart, D., Bromley, S. P., and Dalley, M. B. (1997). Personality, academic attribution, and substance use as predictors of academic achievement in college students. J. Soc. Behav. Pers. 12: 501–511.
National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse an Alcoholism Task Force on College Drinking (2002a). A Call to Action: Changing the culture of drinking at U.S. Colleges, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH Publ. No. 02-5010, Bethesda, MD. Available at http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov.
National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse an Alcoholism Task Force on College Drinking (2002b). College drinking, what it is, and what to do about it: A review of the state of the science. J. Stud. Alcohol Suppl. No. 14 54–70.
Nurmi, J. (1992). Age differences in adult life goals, concerns and their temporal extension: A life course approach to future-oriented motivation. Int. J. Behav Dev. 15: 487–508.
Nurmi, J. (1993). Adolescent development in an age-graded context: The role of personal beliefs, goals, and strategies in tackling of developmental tasks and standards. Int. J. Behav. Dev. 16: 169–189.
Nurmi, J., Poole, M. E., and Seginer, R. (1995). Tracks and transitions: A comparison of adolescent future-oriented goals, explorations, and commitments in Australia, Israel and Finland. Int. J. Psychol 30: 355–375.
O’Malley, P. M., and Johnston, L. D. (2002). Epidemiology of alcohol and other drug use among American college students. J. Stud. Alcohol. (suppl. no. 14): 23–39.
Osgood, D. W., Wilson, J. K., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., and Johnston, D. (1996). Routine activities and individual deviant behavior. Am. Sociol. Rev. 61: 635–655.
Perkins, H. W. (2002). Social norms and the prevention of alcohol misuse in collegiate contexts. J. Stud. Alcohol Suppl. No. 14, 164–172.
Pratt, M. W., Hunsberger, B., Pancer, S. M., Alisat, S., Bowers, C., Mackey, K., Ostaniewicz, A., Rog, E., Terzian, B., and Thomas, N. (2000). Facilitating the transition to university: Evaluation of a social support program. J. Coll. Stud. Dev. 41: 427–441.
Prentice, D. A., and Miller, D. T. (1993). Pluralistic ignorance and alcohol use on campus: Some consequences of misperceiving the social norm. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 64: 243–256.
Rotter, J. B. (1954). Social Learning and Clinical Psychology. Prentice-Hall, New York.
Salmela-Aro, K., and Nurmi, J. (1997). Positive and negative self-related goals and subjective well-being: A prospective study. J. Adult Dev. 4: 179–188.
Santiago-Rivera, A. L., and Bernstein, B. L. (1996). Affiliation, achievement and life events: Contributors to stress appraisals in college men and women. Pers. Individ. Differences 21: 411–419.
Scarr, S., and McCartney, K. (1983). How people make their own environments: A theory of genotype-environment effects. Child Dev. 54: 424–435.
Schulenberg, J., and Maggs, J. L. (2002). A developmental perspective on alcohol use and heavy drinking during adolescence and the transition to young adulthood. J. Stud. Alcohol Suppl. No. 14 57–70.
Stewart, S. H., and Devine, H. (2000). Relations between personality and drinking motives in young adults. Pers. Individ. Differences 29: 495–511.
Straus, R., and Bacon, S. D. (1953). Drinking in College. Yale University Press, New Haven
Wechsler, H., and Nelson, T. F. (2001). Binge drinking and the American college student: What's five drinks? Psychol. Addict. Behav. 15: 287–291.
Wechsler, H., Davenport, A., Dowdall, G., Moeykens, B., and Castillo, S. (1994). Health and behavioral consequences of binge drinking in college. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 272: 1672–1677.
Wechsler, H., Dowdall, G. W., Davenport, A., and Castillo, S. (1995). Correlates of college student binge drinking. Am. J. Public Health 85: 921–926.
Wechsler, H., Molnar, B. E., Davenport, A. E., and Baer, J. S. (1999). College alcohol use: A full or empty glass? J. Am. Coll. Health 47: 247–252.
Wigfield, A., and Eccles, J. S. (2000). Expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation. Contemp. Educ. Psychol. 25: 68–81.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The ULTRA Project was supported by grants from the Alcoholic Beverage Medical Research Foundation and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to J. Maggs.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Brittany Rhoades is a doctoral student in Human Development and Family Studies whose research interests include the development of risk behaviors with a specific emphasis in prevention programming.
Jennifer Maggs is an Associate Professor in Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, whose research interests include social development and health during adolescence and the transition to adulthood, risk behaviors, developmental methods, and prevention.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rhoades, B.L., Maggs, J.L. Do Academic and Social Goals Predict Planned Alcohol Use Among College-Bound High School Graduates?. J Youth Adolescence 35, 913–923 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9040-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9040-y