Abstract

To investigate whether gender, tension-reduction expectancies, and hardiness would be predictors of alcohol consumption level, the I5-item Hardiness Scale, the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire-III, and the Cahalan Drinking Practices Questionnaire were given to 603 college students (female = 454). A forward stepwise regression analysis revealed that all three variables were significant independent predictors of alcohol consumption yet tension-reduction expectancies accounted for the most variance. These findings reiterate the role of tension-reduction expectancies and gender in alcohol consumption and suggest a role for hardiness.