Give Me My A... And That Beer!: Examining the Relationship Between Academic Entitlement, Major, and Alcohol Use

Abstract

Academic entitlement (AE) is a relatively new area of research. AE is defined as expecting higher grades for minimum effort and demanding behaviors towards teachers, such as expecting to receive a good grade in a class just for showing up (Greenberger, Lessard, Chen & Faruggia, 2008). Alcohol is also a reoccurring problem on college campuses, and is associated with many other negative behaviors and consequences (Wesley, 2002). It has been found that students who drink more are less likely to schedule Friday classes (Paschall, Kypri, & Salt). It has also been found that the later a student schedules their first Friday class, the more they are apt to drink on Thursday night (Wood, Shere, & Rutledge, 2007). If students are likely to change their schedule to accommodate their drinking, it is also likely that their choice of major influences their drinking behavior. Since AE is tied directly to a student’s classwork, it also stands to reason that different majors would have differing levels of AE. Will a student with higher levels of AE be more likely to drink more because they feel they don’t need to spend time on course work to achieve good grades or that showing up to class hung over is acceptable? Are the academic majors that tend towards having heavier drinkers also the same majors that have more academically entitled students? Examining these questions will better help us understand the relationship between academic entitlement and other factors common to college students. The data will be collected from students at a mid-sized Midwestern university via an online survey. The survey is currently in progress. Implications will be discussed.