Drinking, Alcohol Policy, and Attitudes Toward a Campus Riot

Journal of College Student Development, Sep/Oct 2004 by Kaplowitz, Stan A, Campo, Shelly

Whether or not Hypothesis 2 is supported, we would expect that those who are most affected by the restrictions will have the greatest objection to them. Thus

Hypothesis 3: More alcohol consumption led to a greater degree of objecting to the restrictions against drinking.

Even if alcohol and reactions to restrictions played a major role in the riot, other factors and campus experiences may have also played a role. In particular some students felt that the riot was caused by dissatisfaction with a university whose administration and faculty were perceived to have other priorities than serving students.

Scott and El-Assal (1978) noted that campus demonstrations have almost always occurred at large universities. They stated that large campuses are more bureaucratized and treat students more impersonally than do small ones, leaving students feeling that they cannot express their grievances to anyone who cares. Although all MSU students were attending a large university, some may have experienced the impersonality of the university more than others. Some may have had mostly large classes that provided little opportunity for a relationship with instructors, while others may have had more small classes offering more of a relationship. This, in turn, may have affected the student's attitude towards the university and, in turn, towards the riot. Thus, this suggests

Hypothesis 4a: Taking a greater proportion of large classes led to more favorable attitudes towards the riot.

Moreover, some may have perceived their professors as caring about them, while others may have perceived their professors as indifferent. Thus,

Hypothesis 4b: Greater student satisfaction with the extent to which their professors care about them led to less favorable attitudes towards the riot.

Another explanation, provided by some students, is that the rioters were immature, irresponsible people, unwilling to engage in serious work. One kind of "serious work" that students do is academic; another kind of "serious work" is paid employment. Conventional wisdom holds that being employed increases the self-efficacy, and thus the sense of responsibility, of young people (Elder, 1974; Safron, 1999; Stevens, 1979). Immaturity is also related to age, which is, in turn, related to class standing at the university. The above discussion suggests

Hypothesis 5a: Higher GPA led to less favorable attitudes towards the riot.

Hypothesis 5b: More time spent studying led to less favorable attitudes towards the riot.

Hypothesis 6: More time spent on paid employment led to less favorable attitudes towards the riot.

Hypothesis Va: Greater age led to less favorable attitudes towards the riot.

Hypothesis 7b: Higher class standing led to less favorable attitudes towards the riot.

METHOD

Sampling

After receiving approval from the university's institutional review board, the investigators sent an e-mail message to all department chairs at MSU and asked them to forward the message to their department faculty. The message announced that a survey was being conducted of student attitudes toward the recent riot, and asked instructors to volunteer to have their undergraduate classes spend 15 minutes of class time filling out the survey. Data were collected from over 20 different classes during the week of April 26-30, 1999.