Degree Name

MA (Master of Arts)

Program

Psychology

Date of Award

8-2010

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Chad E. Lakey

Committee Members

Anea Floyd, Stacey L. Williams

Abstract

Binge drinking (BD) entails excessive alcohol intake in a short time period. Despite numerous negative outcomes associated with BD and efforts to curtail it, rates remain steady. Thus, it is important to identify "who" binge drinks and "why" it occurs. Drawing from past research, I sought to replicate the link between trait narcissism and BD; moreover, I examined if overconfidence and confidence-based risk-taking assessed via the Georgia Gambling Task (GGT), explained why they did so. The results generally supported my hypotheses. As expected, narcissism related to poor GGT performance and high levels of BD; likewise, poor GGT performance related to BD. GGT performance accounted for (i.e., mediated) the narcissism-to-BD relation, but only partially, in subsequent regression analyses. In the discussion I focus on the social and clinical relevance of these findings especially for university interventions, parents, and therapists. I also discuss avenues for future research including other potential mediators.

Document Type

Thesis - unrestricted

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

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