College Binge Drinkers Wealthy White Guys - It only took the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association to figure out the key to binge drinking on college campuses — students who do it are having an awesome time. According to a survey of about 1,600 undergraduate students attending and revelling at “a selective Northeastern residential liberal arts college” in 2009, binge drinking had a strong correlation to students’ social satisfaction, and those students who were best able to maximize their social satisfaction were wealthy, white males who generally behaved like carefree patricians in second century Rome.
According to Carolyn L. Hsu, co-author of the bacchic study, “Binge drinking is a symbolic proxy for high status in college.” In other words, binge drinking successfully in college is more or less like the young-adult equivalent of having a wagon load of Chuck E. Cheese tickets (incidentally, adults can also drink at Mr. Cheese’s fine establishments, something to consider if you ever happen to find yourself planning a child’s birthday party). Hsu broke down the social hierarchy of the elite (primarily white) American institution of higher learning, explaining how rapidly imbibed booze is the preferred currency used to climb the collegiate social ladder:
It’s [Binge drinking is] what the most powerful, wealthy, and happy students on campus do. This may explain why it’s such a desirable activity. When lower status students binge drink, they may be trying to tap into the benefits and the social satisfaction that those kids from high status groups enjoy. And, our findings seem to indicate that, to some extent, they succeed.
1 year ago
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