HOW PERCEPTION ALTERS VIEWS ON ALCHOHOL

Does Perception Alter Your View on Alchohol

{Auna Allen}

Loras College
HOW PERCEPTION ALTERS ALCHOHOL

Abstract

This study aims to determine whether or not perception in positive, negative,

and neutral would have an effect on our behavior. Specifically, we targeted adults ages

21+ to test whether or not different news articles would have an effect on how they

perceive alcohol. We had hypothesized that both positive and negative news would

influence behavior more than neutral news would. This self-report study had indicated

that many different things can drive our behaviors. Not only are these forces seen in our

environment, but they are also developed through time and experiences.

Keywords: Up to five keywords (e.g., Alchohol, Positive, Negative, Perception)

-- Alcohol and Perception --

Alcohol use has been associated with disease, injury, and violence in populations

all over the globe. The world health organization has classified alcohol as one of the

leading risk factors for health as well as disability and premature death. Factors in the

environment such as the economy, culture, and availability of alcohol are relevant

factors in the amounts of alcohol populations consume. Alcohol-related harm is

determined by the amount of alcohol consumed by an individual (Sanchez-Ramierez,

Franklin, & Voaklander,2018). Significant consumption of alcohol causes more than 200

diseases and injuries in individuals. Alcohol dependence can cause liver cirrhosis, cancer,

and other injuries. Policies have been developed to reduce harmful usage of alcohol and

in recent years had shown some progress. Other intervention programs aim to reduce

the multiple harms related to drinking such as managed alcohol programs (MAP).
HOW PERCEPTION ALTERS ALCHOHOL

Adolescents contribute greatly towards alcohol use, which also poses a major

public health concern. Programs are found to reduce acute and social harms that are

associated with alcohol dependence (Pauly et al., 2018). This systematic review of

school-based alcohol and other drug prevention programs provides further evidence for

effectiveness in prevention programs (Agabio et al., 2018). The study had found 43%

positive results. They also found these interventions and school-based prevention

programs prevented alcohol consumption or changed the attitudes to consuming

alcohol among adolescents. For the purpose of this study, we surveyed individuals from

ages 21+ years of age after being exposed to one of three news stories. One is positive,

two being negative, and three being neutral. We aimed to explore alcohol perceptions

and their association with harmful usage. This helped us understand if alcohol

perception is related to personal opinions or behaviors. We had hypothesized that

individuals who were exposed to positive news stories will perceive alcohol as less

harmful. Those seeing negative news will perceive alcohol as harmful, and results for the

neutral will showcase different results.

Method

There were three conditions in this study where each participant was exposed to

news stories that either described alcohol in 1) positive, 2) negative and 3) balanced.

Where we then measured the effect these news stories have on an individual’s

perception of alcohol. Each participant was asked to fill out a related questionnaire

involving questions such as “usage per week measured about the number of drinks they
HOW PERCEPTION ALTERS ALCHOHOL

consumed”. The results were then recorded and interpreted to better understand how

perception can correlate to usage.

Participants

The participants in this study were both male and female. Ages ranged from 21

and up.

Materials

We adapted the survey instrument from three previous studies: the National

Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) study of alcohol, tobacco, and drug use; the Perkins and

Berkowitz study at Hobart and William Smith Colleges; and the studies of drinking

consequences conducted by Engs and Hanson. The positive news article was retrieved

from (Bachal, 2013), the negative news article was retrieved from (Ducharme 2018), and

the neutral article was retrieved from the Mayo Clinic staff.

Design

We investigated the effects of news articles on three different levels, positive,

negative, and neutral on an individual’s perception of alcohol and alcohol-related issues.

An ANOVA was run to compare the three different levels of perception.

Procedure

A questionnaire with 3 conditions (negative, neutral, and positive) probed

perception of drinking and related behaviors and associated their perception with their

own behavior. In the first part of the questionnaire, participants filled out demographic

and alcohol history data. Then they read one of three news articles about alcohol before

answering perception of alcohol safety questions.

HOW PERCEPTION ALTERS ALCHOHOL

Results

A one-way AVOVA test was run to determine if there was statistical significance

between group means. The test had indicated that there was no statistically significant

finding [F(2, 92) =0.162, p = 0.850] at the p-value =<.05. This indicates the between-

group means were not different suggesting that the news articles did not have an

increased danger of perception of alcohol effect between the three different levels. A t-

test was also run to determine perception across the control (neutral) and 1) positive, and

2) negative. Neutral to positive t-test indicated a statistically significant finding t(10) =-

2.721, p =0.010. This suggests that there was a difference between the perception of these

two groups. This could indicate that positive (M= .96 SD= 0) had a greater effect than

neutral (M= 0.500, SD =0). A t-test between neutral and negative had also found a

statistically significant finding t(11) =-2.286, p =0.021. This suggests between groups

there are differences, indicated by the negative of the mean (M=0.897, SD= 0), and

neutral at (M =.5, SD= 0). Thus, suggesting that negative news has a greater impact on

perception than neutral does.

Discussion

Based on the results of the tests we can see there is a difference between the

groups. This supports the hypothesis that we had predicted indicating that positive, and

negative news would have a greater effect on the perception of alcohol than neutral

news would. These types of research findings are extremely important in understanding

the underlying effects of the things we perceive and what they do to change and alter

our behaviors whether we know it or not. Thankfully, many models and intervention

strategies have been developed in recent years with hopes of tackling the widespread
HOW PERCEPTION ALTERS ALCHOHOL

misusage of alcohol. We not only see this here in the United States but as well as in

other countries. Not only is this affecting adults, but as well as adolescents. Therefore,

alcohol poses a global public health concern.

Limitations of this study included a small sample size. Other factors that could be

affecting the results are confounding variables such as religious views causing bias

towards alcohol. We can see these biases in religions when they do not accept alcohol

consumption at all. These types of confounds can heavily skew the data in a misleading

direction. More research needs to be conducted on how the things we perceive affect

our behaviors. Not only do social perceptions change how we view things, but they can

open doors to unhealthy lifestyles causing other health problems to arise. Thus, more

research and findings need to be published in order for more public attention on these

health crises. overall, this study provides us with research findings that suggest

perception is heavily correlated to behaviors both heathy and unhealthy.

HOW PERCEPTION ALTERS ALCHOHOL

References

Agabio, R., Trincas, G., Floris, F., Mura, G., Sancassiani, F., & Angermeyer, M. C.

(2015). A Systematic Review of School-Based Alcohol and other Drug Prevention

Programs. Clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health : CP & EMH,

11(Suppl 1 M6), 102–112. https://doi.org/10.2174/1745017901511010102.

Pauly, B. B., Vallance, K., Wettlaufer, A., Chow, C., Brown, R., Evans, J., Gray, E.,
Krysowaty, B., Ivsins, A., Schiff, R., & Stockwell, T. (2018). Community managed

alcohol programs in Canada: Overview of key dimensions and implementation.

Drug and Alcohol Review, 37. https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.12681

Sanchez-Ramierez, D., Franklin, R., & Voaklander, D. (2018). Perceptions About Alcohol

Harm and Alcohol-control Strategies Among People With High Risk of Alcohol

Consumption in Alberta, Canada and Queensland, Australia. Journal of

Preventative Medicine & Public Health, 51, 41-50.

World Health Organization Global status report on alcohol and health. 2014 [cited 2016

Jul 5]. Available from:

http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/112736/1/9789240692763_eng.pdf.