Testing Consensus About Situational Norms on Drinking: A Cross-National Comparison

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Cross-cultural Psychology
• Sociology

Background:

• Drinking norms are context-dependent, varying by situation and social roles.
• Norms can exist at societal levels or within specific subgroups.
• Understanding these norms is crucial for public health and policy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare societal-level drinking norms across 12 diverse countries.
• To assess the degree of consensus on drinking norms within and across societies.
• To examine differences in norms between abstainers and heavy episodic drinkers.

Main Methods:

• Surveys were conducted in national/regional general population samples (ages 18-65) in 12 countries.
• Respondents' endorsements of drinking norms across 10 situations were analyzed.
• Comparisons were made across societies and within societies based on drinking patterns.

Main Results:

• Significant societal variation exists in the acceptance of drinking and heavier drinking in specific situations.
• Societies generally shared a similar ranking of situations by drinking acceptability.
• Abstainers and heavy episodic drinkers differed in their norm endorsements, with smaller differences for "no drinking" in dry situations.

Conclusions:

• While acceptance of drinking varies, a shared ordering of situations by acceptability is evident globally.
• Societal consensus is stronger regarding situations where drinking should be prohibited than where moderate drinking is acceptable.
• These findings highlight both cultural diversity and commonalities in global drinking norms.