Date of Award

2003

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

Goals are used as ways to guide behavior. Goals have also been suggested to be related to an individual's decisions to use alcohol. A well-accepted model is the motivational model of alcohol use which utilizes goals and other factors that weigh into the final common pathway” which is a motivationally influenced decision. Part of this motivational model are the four motives for drinking established by Cooper (1994), which are enhancement, coping, social, and conformity. In addition, this motivational model has a strong affective component and is considered an emotional regulation model of alcohol use. College students' general life goals for socializing, modulating affect, or for academic achievement are likely to be related to their decisions about alcohol use and therefore their motives for drinking. Assessing students' goals could thus assist in identifying such motivations that lead to alcohol use. The personal projects approach to goal elicitation is an idiographic technique to assess a person's goals. Using a college sample (n = 374) this study assessed the personal projects and motives as well as participant's negative and positive affect, satisfaction with life, experienced consequences of drinking behavior, background information, as well as monthly and yearly consumption of alcohol. Results were that the college sample reported a number of different types of personal projects and relationships to affect and motives for drinking (leading to consumption and experienced problems) that are described via structural equation models. Overall, enhancement and coping were most commonly reported motives and personal projects related to academia, enhancement, and financial concerns were among the most often reported of goals they think about and pursue on a daily basis.

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