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Most youth do not engage in substance abuse, but most may think their peers do. Similarly, parents may think most teens drink alcohol, but they may not think it is an issue they need to address with their own child.

The Most of Us® approach to prevention corrects misperceptions like these and, in the process, changes attitudes and behaviors for the better.

Youth First works in partnership with the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation (E-VSC) and other schools to develop Most of Us® messages aimed at reducing alcohol abuse among high school students.

Youth First is also developing a Most of Us®campaign that will help parents and other adults influence youth toward the positive norms.

Another Youth First initiative, The Real U, uses Social Norms strategies to reduce high risk drinking among area college students.

Funding for these projects comes from the E-VSC School-Community Council’s Grant to Reduce Alcohol Abuse (GRAA), a United Way of Southwestern Indiana Targeted Needs Grant, the Vanderburgh County Community Foundation, and the Welborn Baptist Foundation.

The goals of current Most of Us© efforts are to:

1. Reduce high risk drinking by youth.
2. Increase the number of youth who believe that alcohol is harmful to their health.
3. Increase the number of youth who disapprove of alcohol abuse and believe most of their peers disapprove, too.

Most of Us® is a research-based strategy which recognizes that many young people want to conform to peer norms or feel the social pressure to do so.  A growing number of studies document that both high school and college students’ personal drinking behavior is strongly influenced by their incorrect perception of peer drinking norms (Berkowitz, 2003).  Students typically think that the norms for both the frequency and the quantity of drinking among their peers are higher than they actually are. In addition students generally believed that their peers are more permissive in their personal attitudes about substance use than is in fact the case (Perkin and Berkowitz, 1986).

The Social Norms approach works to correct negative misperceptions by collecting actual data that measures beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors.  The data is then incorporated into a marketing campaign using media materials and messages to correct commonly-held beliefs like “everybody does it.”  By continuing to market the positive messages and true norms, the misperception that “everybody does it” is slowly altered until the group realizes that the true norm is not to participate in alcohol and other drug use.  

Research shows repeated exposure to a variety of positive, data-based messages can change the misperceptions that help sustain problem behaviors.  Over time, the negative behaviors of a group begin to shift toward the more accurately perceived safer and healthier norms.

Other popular media-based prevention strategies, like scare tactics, awareness weeks, and providing factual/educational information, have not been shown to reduce risky behaviors associated with substance abuse.  However, research shows Social Norms Marketing, if done correctly, will work.

High schools in Evanston and Naperville, Illinois were among the first in the country to utilize a social norms model on the high school level, and they have seen significant improvements after just two years. The data showed an 11% reduction in students who drink alcohol regularly.

Primary Resource:
Montana Model for Social Norms Marketing
www.mostofus.org

Youth First collaborates with schools, colleges, and the community to collect data, develop messages, and implement campaigns.  The Most of Us® Marketing Team and The Real U college/community initiative involve marketing and media professionals, college and school personnel, students, and parents. Youth First provides a Program Coordinator who manages meetings, activities, and evaluations.

What is Most of Us®?
A research-proven strategy used by Youth First, Inc. and the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation’s School Community Council to reduce teen alcohol abuse.  The Most of Us® approach was developed by Dr. Jeff Linkenbach, an expert in the field of social norms marketing and a professor at Montana State University.

How does it work?
Most of Us® uses the “Science of the Positive” to encourage people to continue or adopt healthy social norms.  Research shows promoting positive social norms and correcting misperceptions can increase healthy behaviors.  It is the opposite of the typical but unproven prevention strategies which seem more like “Health Terrorism” - scare tactics, negative images, and fear-based activities.  In fact, these approaches can actually increase risky behaviors by inadvertently suggesting that unhealthy choices are the norm.

What are social norms?
Social norms are behaviors, thoughts, or feelings shared by most people in a given group (over 50%).  Most of Us® measures social norms and misperceptions of norms through surveys.  Over 4,500 EVSC high school students responded to the Youth First Most of Us® survey in the spring of 2007.

Why do misperceptions matter?
It is the difference between what we THINK our friends do and what our friends REALLY do.  Overestimating or underestimating what our peers do can have negative consequences.  For instance, teens who believe that “everybody does it” or “most do it” may feel greater pressure to drink alcohol.  Parents who believe “everybody does it but not my child” may be less likely to have crucial conversations with their kids about the dangers of alcohol.

What is the solution?
Hear the conversation (what teens and their parents say), and then steer the conversation to correct any misperceptions and promote the positive norms.  In other words, find the untold goodness and continuously spread it through mass media marketing efforts, school-based activities, or even dinner table conversations.  Thanks to Most of Us®, teens, parents, teachers, and other adults are empowered to talk the talk and walk the walk in an effort to reduce alcohol abuse.

How can I learn more?

• Denise Schultz, Program Coordinator, Youth First, Inc., 812-421-8336, ext. 8.
• Kate Scates, Project Coordinator, Safe Schools/Healthy Students, Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation, 812-435-0211.

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