REASONS FOR DRINKING, COGNITIVE-PROCESSES AND ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION

One hundred ninety-four undergraduate students were surveyed to determ ine the relationship of cognitive egocentrism, self-monitoring, and re asons given for drinking to amounts of alcohol actually consumed, Tota l reasons given for drinking accounted for 6.4% of the variance in amo unt of alcohol consumed by males and 10.3% of the variance in females. Structure coefficients revealed that total reasons given for drinking was most strongly related to pre dieted alcohol consumption, but imag inary audience, personal fable and age also had noteworthy relationshi ps with predicted alcohol consumption in males, Among females, total r easons for drinking, self-monitoring, and age were related to pre diet ed alcohol consumption, The findings of this study support conclusions that the cognitive processes involved in alcohol consumption may diff er by sex and should be considered when planning alcohol programming.