Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Being With Friends And The Potential For Binge Drinking During The First College Semester, Lizabeth A. Crawford, Katherine B. Novak

Katherine B. Novak

In this prospective study, we assess the relationship between being with high school friends during the college transition and binge drinking. Across analyses (n = 489), the presence of high school friends during the college transition was associated with reduced binge drinking at the end of the first college semester among individuals at risk for this behavior because they drank in high school, associated alcohol use with the student role, or engaged in binge drinking at the beginning of the fall term. This is consistent with research linking social integration to behavioral regulation and suggests the presence of high …

Individual And Society: Sociological Social Psychology, Lizabeth A. Crawford, Katherine B. Novak

Katherine B. Novak

"Unlike the few other texts for undergraduate sociological social psychology courses that present 3 distinct traditions (or "faces") ... Symbolic Interactionist (SI), Social Structure and Personality (SSP), and Group Processes and Structure (GPS) by topic alone, this text initially discusses these "faces" by research tradition, and emphasizes the different theoretical frameworks within which social psychological analyses are conducted. With this approach, the authors make clear the link between "face" of sociological social psychology, theory, and methodology. And students gain an appreciably better understanding of the field of sociological social psychology; how and why social psychologists trained in sociology ask particular …

Routine Activities And Delinquency: The Significance Of Bonds To Society And Peer Context, Lizabeth A. Crawford, Katherine B. Novak, Amia K. Foston

Katherine B. Novak

This article extends prior research on routine activities and youth deviance by focusing on a broader range of routine activity patterns (RAPs) and on how their effects are conditioned by bonds to society and peer context. As hypothesized, the RAPs with the most consistent effects on delinquency were those lowest, or highest, in both structure and visibility. However, the relationship between school-related activities and delinquency was complex and varied across levels of the moderators in unexpected ways, given the structure and visibility of this RAP. Other RAPs, including unstructured peer interaction, affected delinquency independent of adolescents’ social relations, suggesting that …

Another Nibble At The Core: Student Learning In A Thematically-Focused Introductory Sociology Course, Jay R. Howard, Katherine B. Novak, Krista M.C. Cline, Marvin B. Scott

Katherine B. Novak

Identifying and assessing core knowledge has been and continues to be a challenge that vexes the discipline of sociology. With the adoption of a thematic approach to courses in the core curriculum at Butler University, faculty teaching Introductory Sociology were presented with the opportunity and challenge of defining the core knowledge and skills to be taught across course sections with a variety of themes. This study of students (N = 280) enrolled in 12 sections of a thematically-focused Introductory Sociology course presents our attempt to both define and assess a core set of concepts and skills through a pretest-posttest questionnaire …

Welfare And Homelessness In Indianapolis: Populations At Risk And Barriers To Self-Sufficiency, Indianapolis, Leslie Lenkowski, David A. Reingold, Wendy Chun-Hoon, Katherine B. Novak, Charles Guthrie, Kenneth D. Colburn

Katherine B. Novak

Who are the homeless in Indianapolis? How has welfare reform affected Indianapolis families who rely on public support? What barriers are preventing these populations from becoming self-sufficient? Two recent studies help answer these questions for policymakers and service providers. This issue brief summarizes the studies’ demographic findings, and the problems that erect barriers to self-sufficiency among the poor in Indianapolis.

Alcohol Abuse As A Rite Of Passage: The Effect Of Beliefs About Alcohol And The College Experience On Undergraduates’ Drinking Behaviors, Lizabeth Crawford, Katherine Novak

Katherine B. Novak

Qualitative studies of alcohol’s ritual influences indicate that college undergraduates who drink heavily tend to view alcohol use as integral to the student role and feel entitled to drink irresponsibly. Our analyses, based on a standardized measure of these beliefs administered to approximately 300 students, confirmed these findings. Among our sample, beliefs about alcohol and the college experience had an effect on levels of alcohol consumption similar in magnitude to that of other variables commonly associated with a risk for heavy drinking. Moreover, the alcohol beliefs index moderated the effects of three risk factors—gender, high school drinking, and friends’ use …

Routine Activities As Determinants Of Gender Differences In Delinquency, Katherine B. Novak, Lizabeth A. Crawford

Katherine B. Novak

This study examined the extent to which gender differences in delinquency can be explained by gender differences in participation in, or response to, various routine activity patterns (RAPs) using data from the second and third waves of the National Education Longitudinal Survey of 1988. While differential participation in routine activities by gender failed to explain males’ high levels of deviance relative to females, two early RAPs moderated the effect of gender on subsequent deviant behavior. Participation in religious and community activities during the sophomore year in high school decreased, while unstructured and unsupervised peer interaction increased, levels of delinquency two …

Resisting Peer Pressure: Characteristics Associated With Other-Self Discrepancies In College Students’ Levels Of Alcohol Consumption, Lizabeth A. Crawford, Katherine B. Novak

Katherine B. Novak

Since college undergraduates tend to increase their use of alcohol to match what they perceive to be normative, the assumption has been that students who believe that others on campus drink more than they do (a common misperception) are in a vulnerable position. Taking a different perspective, we consider large other-self discrepancies in levels of alcohol consumption as indicative of a capacity to resist situational pressures that favor drinking. OLS regression was used to assess the relationship between student background characteristics, self-presentational tendencies, and a gender-specific other-self gap measure. Overall, those individuals who drank closest to what they regarded as …

Reactivity To Conspicuousness And Alcohol Use Among College Students: The Moderating Effect Of Alcohol Expectancies, Lizabeth A. Crawford, Katherine B. Novak

Katherine B. Novak

The analysis of self-report data from 147 college undergraduates suggested that alcohol expectancies moderate the effect of a dispositional susceptibility to embarrassment elicited by undesired conspicuousness [center-of-attention-induced embarrassability (CAE)] on drinking behavior. Individuals unlikely to experience embarrassment when they engage in behaviors that make them stand out in a crowd, a common occurrence when one drinks to excess, drank heavily if they expected alcohol to make them more assertive socially. Students with similar beliefs about the effects of alcohol on social interaction who were high in CAE consumed substantially less alcohol than the latter individuals. Their overall levels of drinking …

Latin American Immigrants In Indianapolis: Perceptions Of Prejudice And Discrimination, Antonio V. Menéndez Alarcón, Katherine B. Novak

Katherine B. Novak

The article focuses on immigrants’ interactions with the Indiana natives, with emphasis in the city of Indianapolis and its suburbs. More specifically, this study aims at providing an understanding of the experiences of Latin American immigrants with special attention to perceptions of prejudice and discrimination and to feelings of social exclusion. A substantial proportion of Latin American immigrants interviewed indicated that they considered Indiana natives to be prejudiced and that they had personally experienced discrimination. The study reveals specific examples of discrimination experienced by the immigrants at the work place, in housing, in stores, restaurants and by various service providers. …

Perceived Drinking Norms, Attention To Social Comparison Information, And Alcohol Use Among College Students, Katherine B. Novak, Lizabeth A. Crawford

Katherine B. Novak

Numerous studies indicate that normative campus drinking practices are important in determining college undergraduates’ use and abuse of alcohol. The purpose of this paper was to extend this literature by assessing the extent to which a dispositional susceptibility to peer influence, measured using the Attention to Social Comparison Information subscale (Lennox & Wolfe, 1984), moderates this relationships. Consistent with prior research, the perception that alcohol use and abuse are common campus activities was associated with high levels of drinking across students. Attention to social comparison information also had a direct positive effect on alcohol consumption among the undergraduates surveyed. Moreover, …

The Effects Of Role-Taking And Embarrassability On Undergraduate Drinking: Some Unanticipated Findings, Lizabeth A. Crawford, Katherine B. Novak

Katherine B. Novak

This paper focuses on the relationship between role-taking, affect, and alcohol use among college undergraduates. Role-taking is the process through which people anticipate the perspectives—expectations, evaluations, and behaviors—of others (Mead, 1934). Reflexive role-taking (i.e.,viewing oneself through the eyes of others) was significantly related to four distinct types of embarrassment. However, in opposition to our hypotheses, embarrassment resulting from becoming the center of others’ attentions was the only form of embarrassability significantly related to undergraduate drinking. Moreover, it was those students least susceptible to this type of embarrassment who were the most likely to be drinkers. While role-taking, in general, was …

Beliefs About Alcohol And The College Experience As Moderators Of The Effects Of Perceived Drinking Norms On Student Alcohol Use, Lizabeth A. Crawford, Katherine B. Novak

Katherine B. Novak

Many students view the abuse of alcohol as integral to the student role. Thus, they feel entitled to drink heavily without sanction. OLS regression was used to assess the extent to which these beliefs about alcohol and the college experience moderate the effects of descriptive and injunctive campus drinking norms on students’ levels of alcohol consumption. Overall, respondents who perceived that same-sex students on their campus drank heavily tended to drink heavily themselves. This relationship was, however, strongest among individuals who viewed the abuse of alcohol as part of being a student. Although general injunctive norms were not themselves associated …

Parental And Peer Influences On Adolescent Drinking: The Relative Impact Of Attachment And Opportunity, Lizabeth A. Crawford, Katherine B. Novak

Katherine B. Novak

The purpose of this paper was to assess the relative effects of parents and peers on adolescent alcohol use via mechanisms of attachment and opportunity. Panel data from the second and third waves of the National Education Longitudinal Survey (NELS:88) were used to examine the relationship between multiple measures of peer and parent-child relations reflecting these concepts and alcohol use among high-school students. Overall, our results indicated that peers are more influential than parents in shaping adolescents’ patterns of alcohol consumption and that unstructured peer interaction is an especially powerful predictor of adolescent alcohol use and binge drinking. Our findings …

The Effects Of Public Self-Consciousness And Embarrassability On College Student Drinking: Evidence In Support Of A Protective Self-Presentational Model, Lizabeth A. Crawford, Katherine B. Novak

Katherine B. Novak

In this article we examine the effects of public self-consciousness (PSC) and a cross-situational reactivity to embarrassing encounters (EMB) on college students’ levels of alcohol consumption by levels of perceived peer drinking. The analysis of self-report data from two undergraduate samples (n = 118 and n = 195) yielded virtually identical results and suggests that PSC and EMB affect alcohol use primarily among students with friends who drink heavily. Among these individuals, our findings are consistent with a protective self-presentational model. While PSC increased levels of alcohol consumption among students who believed drinking to be prevalent within their social circle …

Beliefs About Alcohol And The College Experience, Locus Of Self, And College Undergraduates’ Drinking Patterns, Lizabeth A. Crawford, Katherine B. Novak

Katherine B. Novak

The purpose of this study is to assess the extent to which locus of self (institutional versus impulse), measured using the Twenty Statements Test (TST), moderates the relationship between beliefs about alcohol and the college experience (BACE) and alcohol use among college undergraduates. Although the majority of our respondents listed more idiosyncratic personal characteristics and preferences than consensual social roles in response to the TST, the number of students classified as institutionals was notably higher than what has been reported within the literature. In opposition to our hypothesis that BACE would affect levels of alcohol consumption primarily among these individuals, …

Parent-Child Relations And Peer Associations As Mediators Of The Family Structure-Substance Use Relationship, Lizabeth A. Crawford, Katherine B. Novak

Katherine B. Novak

Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Survey of 1988, the authors assess the extent to which adolescents’ levels of parental attachment and opportunities for participating in delinquent activities mediate the family structure–substance use relationship. A series of hierarchical regressions supported the hypotheses that high levels of substance use among adolescents residing with stepfamilies would be explained by low parental attachment, whereas heightened opportunities for participating in deviant activities would account for the substance use behaviors of individuals living in single-parent households. More generally, the findings suggest that family structure has a moderate effect on youth substance use; that parental …

The College Student Identity And Time Use As Determinants Of Student Drinking Behavior, Katherine Novak

Katherine B. Novak

Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Sociological Society, Omaha, NE, April 3-6, 2014.

Individual And Society: Sociological Social Psychology, Lizabeth A. Crawford, Katherine B. Novak

Katherine B. Novak

Directed Research Experiences For Undergraduates, Katherine Novak

Katherine B. Novak

Presentation on “Making Students Count: Innovations in Undergraduate Research, Publication, and Teaching” at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, New York, NY, August 10-13, 2013.

Student Learning In A Topically-Focused Introductory Sociology Course: Preliminary Results, Katherine Novak

Katherine B. Novak

Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the North Central Sociological Association, Indianapolis, IN, April 4-7, 2013.

Indicators Of The Transition To Adulthood And Beliefs About Alcohol And The College Experience As Determinants Of Students’ Drinking Practices, Katherine Novak

Katherine B. Novak

Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Sociological Society, Chicago, IL, March 27-30, 2013.

The Effect Of Perceived Expectations Of Alcohol Use And College Life On Freshmen’S Drinking Behaviors, Katherine Novak

Katherine B. Novak

Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Sociological Society, Minneapolis, MN, March 29-April 1, 2012.

The Influence Of College Student Identity And Beliefs About Alcohol And The College Experience On Students’ Drinking Behavior, Katherine Novak

Katherine B. Novak

Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Sociological Society, St. Louis, MO, March 24-27, 2011.

Beliefs About Alcohol And The College Experience As Moderators Of The Effects Of Perceived Campus Drinking Norms On Levels Of Alcohol Use Among College Undergraduates, Katherine Novak

Katherine B. Novak

Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Sociological Society, Chicago, IL, March 31-April 3, 2010.

Routine Activities As Determinants Of Gender Differences In Delinquency, Katherine Novak

Katherine B. Novak

Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Boston, MA, August 1-4, 2008.

Beliefs About Alcohol And The College Experience, Locus Of Self, And College Undergraduates’ Drinking Patterns, Katherine Novak

Katherine B. Novak

Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, Boston, MA, July 31-August 2, 2008.

Resisting Peer Pressure: Characteristics Associated With Self-Other Discrepancies In College Students’ Levels Of Alcohol Consumption, Katherine Novak

Katherine B. Novak

Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Sociological Society, Omaha, NE, March 30-April 2, 2006.

Beliefs Concerning Alcohol And The College Experience As Predictors Of Undergraduates’ Drinking Behavior: A Quantitative Analysis Of Alcohol’S Ritual Functions, Katherine Novak

Katherine B. Novak

Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, Philadelphia, PA, August 12-14, 2005.

The Effects Of Routine Activities And Bonds To Society On Adolescent Alcohol And Marijuana Use, Katherine Novak

Katherine B. Novak

Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Philadelphia, PA, August 13-16, 2005.