EXPECTANCY ACCESSIBILITY, ALCOHOL EXPECTANCIES, AND INTENTIONS TO CONSUME ALCOHOL

Drug use tends to correlate more strongly with positive expectancies t han with negative expectancies. The expectancy-accessibility model pro vides one explanation for this disparity. This model suggests that the association between positive expectancies of a drug's effects and int entions to use the drug are larger because positive expectancies are o ften more accessible in memory. Previous work supports the model for p ositive expectancies and intentions to use smokeless tobacco. Positive expectancies correlated significantly with intentions to use smokeles s tobacco only when they were primed in memory. The current study atte mpted to extend these findings to alcohol consumption. Positive expect ancies correlated significantly with intentions to drink when they wer e primed in memory, as the model predicts. Nevertheless, positive expe ctancies also correlated significantly with intentions when negative e xpectancies were primed. In addition, negative expectancies were not a ssociated with intentions to drink, regardless of priming condition. T hese latter results are not consistent with the model. These findings suggest that the expectancy-accessibility model may be limited.