Alcohol Use Among Business Students: Demographic, Personality, and Social Correlates of Increased Consumption

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article aims to investigate drinking patterns among business students, and dispositional (e.g., demographics) and social factors (e.g., norms of alcohol use) that may explain differences in alcohol consumption between business and non-business students. Students in Bergen, Norway, were invited to participate in a survey. The sample consisted of 11,236 students. Binary logistic regressions were run to examine the relationship between institutional affiliation and alcohol use when controlling for covariates associated with alcohol use. Business students had higher alcohol consumption than other students, and shared several dispositional and social factors known to predict alcohol use. The heightened alcohol use among business students can partly be explained by dispositional factors, but seems mostly related to social norms and attitudes.