1. Group Feedback Presentation
As we’ve mentioned, this year our student organization is participating in the FailSafe program to help make our group less vulnerable to negative consequences when we use alcohol. We’re doing this program voluntarily; no one is requiring that we do it.
Times have changed. Our college/university is taking wild partying and heavy drinking pretty seriously. At some schools there have been members of fraternities and other student groups sent to jail for being part of an event where someone got sick or died from drinking too much.
As we do the FailSafe activities, I really hope you’ll take seriously the things we talk about. No one is going to tell you that you can’t drink, but we all need to get smarter about what we do and the risks we take related to alcohol. Nothing we talk about here is reported to anyone—this program is just for us. And FailSafe is going to help us be better able to have a great time and stay safe. I can answer any questions you have about the program after this meeting or any time.

2. Good to Know Our group profile related to alcohol use
Our group’s attitudes about alcohol use
A few weeks ago as part of the FailSafe program, we asked you to go online and take the Member Alcohol Profile, which asked about your drinking and our group’s attitudes and norms related to alcohol.
After that, I received our group’s combined results from the survey. I only have access to the averages for our members’ responses on the survey; I’m not able to see any individual’s answers. Today I’m going to present what our group’s profile looks like. No one’s individual responses will be discussed.
The goal is to see what our group looks like, and to let each of us see how we fit with the rest of the organization. This is all information that’s good to know. We’re not here to lecture or judge anyone.

3. Drunk •
Sober •
We’re going to begin by throwing out some words we use—or hear other people use—to describe being drunk and being sober. Let’s start with drunk. What are some words people use to describe being drunk? (Have someone in your group either type the words that group members suggest on the slide or write them on a whiteboard or easel pad. If no one says "shit-faced" or "fucked up" fairly early on, you can add those words to put people at ease.)
How about words we use to describe being sober?
(When people are done suggesting words for “sober”: ) So did you notice how many more words we have for drunk than we have for sober? There’s a reason for that (go to the next slide).

4. Overestimating and Underestimating
People think everybody else does more of everything than they actually do.
We tend to overestimate how often other people do unhealthy things and underestimate how often other people do healthy things.
Students across the country are taking surveys like the one we took, and researchers are finding that students don't drink as much as people in general think, or even as much as other students think.
This is true for a lot of behaviors like smoking, sexual behavior, and drug use. People overestimate how often and how much people do these things, and whether people approve of doing these things.
The other part is that people underestimate how often people do healthy, positive, helpful things. Actually, most people are helpful and friendly most of the time, but people underestimate that, and instead focus on negative behaviors. Within our organization, the same thing is true: we all tend to overestimate the negative and underestimate the positive.

5. Norms and Misperceptions
Norm: an unspoken social rule or code about how people are supposed to behave or what they’re supposed to believe.
Norms influence our behavior.
Norms are not explicitly taught or explained, so people often misperceive what the norms are.
Misperceived norms are as powerful as actual norms in influencing behavior.
Let’s talk about how people are influenced by what they think about other people. Remember the questions on the survey that asked what you think the other members of our group think or do? Those questions were asking about perceived norms and actual norms.
Norms are the unspoken social rules that we all follow in our public behavior and often in our private beliefs. An example of a norm is personal space. People from different cultures are comfortable with a different amount of physical space when they’re standing or sitting near someone. In this country, most people stand about this far from one another (stand about 2-3 feet from another student). In other countries, let's say in the Middle East, people stand closer (move closer to the other student—about a foot away). No one ever told you how close to stand to another person. We all just figure it out by watching other people and trying to interpret what their actions mean. We’re not even aware that we're doing this.
Another example of a norm is public behavior. College students act like college students, they don't act like corporate executives, and they don't act like school teachers. No one actually says these rules out loud. We figure them out by observing others and then copying the behavior of the people we want to be like and be accepted by. Can you think of other examples of norms?
Because norms are unspoken, people often misperceive what the norms are. We try to figure out the norms of the groups we want to belong to, and then we act that way, even if we’ve really misperceived what the group’s norms are.

6. Misperceived Norms
A misperceived norm is perpetuated when most people believe most other people think it’s true (e.g., our school is a party school).
Even if you don’t agree with the misperceived norm, if you think everyone else does, that’s enough.
When most people think unhealthy behavior is the norm, that allows the unhealthy behavior to go unchallenged.
Even when misperceived norms are incorrect, people think they’re true and talk about them as if they are true. A good example is the misperception that our school is a party school.
Actually, students at our school drink less than the national average. But a lot of people outside our school have heard stories about wild parties and students here getting really drunk, so everyone thinks we’re a party school.
Students everywhere overestimate how much other students drink and how much other students approve of drinking. This is true all over the country, for all ages of students (and nonstudents), and for a wide variety of behaviors, such as smoking, sexual activity, and eating disorders. And it's true for our group as well.

7. How Do Misperceptions Get Started?
Think about this: you're at a party with a hundred people. Of those hundred people, probably about 15 are not drinking at all. About 50 are drinking, but not a lot; they're just having a few beers. Another 25 or so are drinking a bit more than that, but still not a huge amount.
Then there are the 10 or so people who are really throwing down the beer and maybe a few shots as well. They're really drunk. A couple of them are undressing each other in the corner, one guy is passed out on the floor in the middle of the room and people are using him for a table. A couple more are getting into a fight and starting to punch each other, one is throwing up on the front porch, and another is urinating off the balcony.
What do you notice? What do you talk about the next day? You're not going to say “I was at this great party last night. People were having a good time, hardly anybody was smashed, everybody was polite and friendly, and we all really enjoyed ourselves without causing any problems for ourselves or anybody else.” No, what you're going to say is “You should have been there! This one guy was passed out in the middle of the dance floor, these people were hooking up in the corner, there was a huge fight, and people were throwing up all over the place!” Right?
So that's how misperceptions get started and how they keep going. People notice what's different, everybody talks about that, and pretty soon that's what looks normal. Even though almost everybody at that party was just having a few beers and hanging out—no problems for themselves, no problems for anyone else.

8. Comparing Perceptions to Reality
The Member Alcohol Profile shows us what our members estimate are the norms for alcohol-related behaviors in our group.
We’ll compare our group members’ estimates (i.e., perceptions) of our group with the actual behaviors of our group.
Now we’re going to turn to misperceptions about alcohol within our group, as well as what our group members’ beliefs and behaviors really are. The data from our members’ responses on the Member Alcohol Profile have been analyzed and we're going to see what our group’s total numbers look like. While we’re looking at the data, you can be thinking about your answers to the questions on the survey and how you compare to the group as a whole.
The data that we’ll see for our group is strictly confidential. Our group’s data isn’t shared with anyone else on our campus or at other schools. The research team doesn’t look at data from any individuals in our group, and our group is simply identified by a number code, not by our group’s name.
When we looked at our group’s data, we found a very interesting fact: We all think everybody else is doing more of everything than they actually do.
As we just talked about, this is because we tend to focus on the people who are drunk and causing problems. We don’t see the people who are not drunk and not causing problems. We don’t see the majority who are either not drinking or drinking responsibly. And because we don’t see these people, the others—who are drinking too much and causing problems—end up looking like the majority.

9. Drinks Per Occasion National/University Average (all students):
How many drinks per occasion we think our group’s members drink (on average):
How many drinks per occasion our group’s members actually drink
(on average):
Student leader: insert here the group’s guess about the average
Student leader: insert here the group’s actual average
The first thing we’re going to look at is the average of our group’s responses to the number of drinks we typically have when we party (which is also called “drinks per occasion”). The survey also asked you to estimate how many drinks you think the other members of our group have when they party. In the left-hand column is how much we estimate the other members of our group drink per occasion, and in the right-hand column is how much, according to what we said on our surveys, we actually drink.
(There is no need for you to comment on or ask anyone to share judgments about the numbers. Just note that the numbers are interesting. Ask your group the following questions:)
Do these numbers surprise you?
• Are the figures what you thought they would be?
• Looking at this, what conclusions could you draw?
• How about some personal opinions?
• Does anyone have a different opinion?
These are averages, which means that some members of our organization drink more and some drink less. And we don’t all drink the same amount every time we party. In fact, some of us don’t drink at all.
At the bottom of the slide we can see how our organization compares to students across the country (or to students across your school, if you have those data). It seems we’re quite different from the average. Why do you think that is?
National/University Average (all students):
Student leader: insert here the national/university average.

10. Drinks Per Week National/University Average (all students):
How many drinks per week we think our group’s members drink (on average):
How many drinks per week our group’s members actually drink
(on average):
Student leader: insert here the group’s guess about the average
Student leader: insert here the group’s actual average
The survey also asked you to estimate how many drinks you think the other members of our group have per week. In the left-hand column is how much we estimate the other members of our group drink per week, and in the right-hand column is how much, according to what we said on our surveys, we actually drink per week.
(There is no need for you to comment on or ask anyone to share judgments about the numbers. Just note that the numbers are interesting. Ask your group the following questions:)
Do these numbers surprise you?
• Are the figures what you thought they would be?
• Looking at this, what conclusions could you draw?
• How about some personal opinions?
• Does anyone have a different opinion?
These are averages, which means that some members of our organization drink more and some drink less.
At the bottom of the slide we can see how our organization compares to students across the country (or to students across your school, if you have those data). It seems we’re quite different from the average. Why do you think that is?
National/University Average (all students):
Student leader: insert here the national/university average.

11. Drinks Per Month National/University Average (all students):
How many drinks per month we think our group’s members drink (on average):
How many drinks per month our group’s members actually drink
(on average):
Student leader: insert here the group’s guess about the average
Student leader: insert here the group’s actual average
In the survey, you also estimated how many drinks you think the other members of our group have per month. In the left-hand column is how much we estimate other members of our group drink per month, and in the right-hand column is how much, according to what we said on our surveys, we actually drink per month.
(There is no need for you to comment on or ask anyone to share judgments about the numbers. Just note that the numbers are interesting. Ask your group the following questions:)
Do these numbers surprise you?
• Are the figures what you thought they would be?
• Looking at this, what conclusions could you draw?
• How about some personal opinions?
• Does anyone have a different opinion?
These are averages, which means that some members of our organization drink more and some drink less.
At the bottom of the slide we can see how our organization compares to students across the country (or to students across your school, if you have those data). It seems we’re quite different from the average. Why do you think that is?
National/University Average (all students):
Student leader: insert here the national/university average.

12. Attitudes About Alcohol-Related Behaviors
Members drinking so much they get in regrettable situations
Insert here the group’s guess about the percentage
Insert here the actual percentage
Members drinking so much they black out
Making a sexual advance on someone who is intoxicated
Drinking and driving
Our Guess About How Many of Us Approve:
How Many of Us
Actually Approve:
Alcohol-Related Behavior
Now we’re going to look at some of our attitudes about drinking and what we think the rest of us think about these things. In the far-left column are four different alcohol-related behaviors. In the middle column is what we think is the percentage of our group’s members who approve of each behavior. And in the far right is the percentage of our members who actually approve of the behavior.
(There is no need for you to comment on or ask anyone to share judgments about the numbers. Just note that the numbers are interesting. Ask your group the following questions:)
Do these numbers surprise you?
• Are the figures what you thought they would be?
• Looking at this, what conclusions could you draw?
• How about some personal opinions?
• Does anyone have a different opinion?
Why might we think that most people in our group approve of these behaviors? (Or, if the guess is low:) Why don’t we approve of these behaviors? What might give someone the impression that we do approve?

13. Attitudes About Alcohol-Related Behaviors
Members getting drunk before attending an organization-sponsored event
Insert here the group’s guess about the percentage
Insert here the actual percentage
Members getting drunk at an organization-sponsored event
Our group leaders condone getting drunk at an organization-sponsored event
Insert here the percentage of members who think group leaders condone this
Insert here the actual percentage of group leaders who condone this.
Alcohol-Related Behavior
or Attitude
Our Guess About How Many of Us Approve:
How Many of Us
Actually Approve:
This slide focuses on what we think is the norm for our organization related to alcohol use and our group’s events, parties, game days, formals, etc. In the far left column are two alcohol-related behaviors and one attitude related to alcohol. In the middle column is what we think is the percentage of our group’s members who approve of the behavior or attitude. And in the far right is the percentage of our members who actually think the behavior or attitude is OK. I’m especially interested in what our group’s members think leaders like myself and our other officers condone or don’t condone related to alcohol use and these events.
(There is no need for you to comment on or ask anyone to share judgments about the numbers. Just note that the numbers are interesting. Ask your group the following questions:)
Do these numbers surprise you?
• Are the figures what you thought they would be?
• Looking at this, what conclusions could you draw?
• How about some personal opinions?
• Does anyone have a different opinion?
Why might we think that most people in our group approve of these behaviors? (Or, if the guess is low:) Why don’t we approve of these behaviors? What might give someone the impression that we do approve?
(If you choose, you can create similar tables to share with your group that show the group’s guesses and actual data on money spent on alcohol and calories consumed in alcoholic beverages.)

14. What Are We Learning About Ourselves As a Group?
How does what we are learning change the way we think about each other?
How can we use what we are learning to help us better manage our risks related to alcohol use for ourselves and others who party with us?
Does anyone want to comment on whether what you learned today has changed the way you think about the members of our group?
How do you think we could use this information to manage our risks?
(This part of the discussion doesn’t have to be lengthy or profound. Just collect opinions, see how the group took in the information, who struggled, and who protested. Use this time to gauge the group’s defensiveness or willingness to think about their attitudes and behaviors.)
Our group’s leader team is going to do some more assessment about what our greatest risks are and what we could do to better manage those risks. We’ll continue to talk about these issues. I really want to hear what you think: what you feel we should be paying attention to, what you think we need to do differently, or what bugs you most about our group’s alcohol use. Again, we’re doing this for us, no one is looking over our shoulder, so we should make this work for our group.
Thanks for listening and sharing your thoughts and ideas.