Suchergebnisse

In a recent paper we proposed a strategy for incorporating threats of shame and embarrassment, along with the threat of legal sanctions, into a rational choice perspective on illegal behavior. In this paper we use that approach in an attempt to account for a reduction in self‐reported drunk driving observed in a community between identical surveys conducted in 1982 and 1990. The interval between the two surveys was a period of intense legislative activity and moral crusading at the national and local levels. Our analysis indicates that the reduction in self‐reported drunk driving in the community is primarily attributable to an increase in the threat of shame for this offense.

The paper allows an explicit test of a sensation-seeking perspective to help account for substance use (legal and illegal) among a sample of nearly 1,600 high school students responding to a survey conducted in 1991. We present analyses specific to drinking alcohol, getting drunk, tobacco use, use of marijuana or hash, and use of harder drugs to determine if factors common to a sensation-seeking perspective help explain both the prevalence and frequency of substance use among adolescents. Findings provide strong support for considering sensation-seeking variables like thrillseeking, immediate gratification, and impulsivity to help explain self-reported substance use. Our results show that for each of the five substance delinquencies examined, sensation-seeking factors generate statistically significant influences. Results point toward intrinsic rewards that initially promote and subsequently reinforce substance use, and which center on the fun, thrills, and excitement of risky, illegal substance use, and the physiological high generated by drug or alcohol use. Finally, the relevance of a sensation-seeking approach to social learning theory is explored.