Yo ung adults' social drinking as explained by an augmented theoryofp lanned behaviour: The roles of prototypes, willingness, and gender

Objective. This study focused on young adults' alcohol consumption in social contexts. Ad ual-process model (including reasoned action and social reaction) was applied by combining the theoryo fp lanned behaviour (TPB) and the prototype/ willingness model. Ak ey question was whether willingness and actor and abstainer prototype variables would augment the TPB by increasing explained variance. Design. Participants completedq uestionnaires priort os pendinga ne vening socializing over the weekend (Time 1). Behavioural data were obtained by telephone interviews af ew days after the social drinking occasion (Time 2). Method. N ¼ 300 people (mean age 25 years) took partinthe study.The outcome measure of pure alcohol in grams was calculated based on participants' reports about their consumed drinks. Multigroup path analyses werec onducted because of sex differences on behavioural and psychological variables. Results. The TPB explained 35% of the variance in men'sand 41% in women'salcohol consumption. Augmentation with prototype perception and willingness contributed significantly to the prediction of intention ( D R 2 ¼ : 07) and alcohol consumption for men ( D R 2 ¼ : 14). As ignificant interaction implied that willingness led to heavy drinking particularly among those men who made negative evaluations of the abstainer prototype. Conclusion. Women'salcohol consumption is explained by TPB variables via amore controlled reasoned-action path only,whereas additional processes (e.g., pursuing the actor image intentionally,rejecting the abstainer image more intuitively) areimportant for men. The moderating role of gender is discussed in light of traditional gender roles and recent trends in alcohol consumption