If fraternities had a superpower, what would it be? The ability to foster 19th century-style racism in the modern era? The power to borderline stalk freshman "babes" in the creepiest way possible? Actually, science says it would be something even more synonymous with campus Greek life. A new study shows that fraternity bros are so dedicated to hardcore drinking that even scientists are kinda shocked at how difficult it is to get them to slow down on the booze.
The study undertaken by The Miriam Hospital and Brown University and published this week in the journal Health Psychology found that fraternities, and to some extent sororities, were essentially immune to methods of alcohol abuse intervention that successfully worked on non-members, according to a news release from Miriam Hospital.
The new study looked at data collected from more than a dozen other studies since 1987 and found that "interventions that provided moderation strategies, skills training or goal setting were less effective" and that "alcohol misuse among members of fraternities and sororities continues to be a serious problem nationwide."
Normally effective methods of getting people to cut down on binge drinking, such as alcohol education and teaching abusers to alternate booze with water, just did not work on frat bros, according to NBC News.
"It was unexpected," Lori Scott-Sheldon, an associate professor at the Brown University Medical School and a senior scientist at the Miriam Hospital, told NBC. "We thought they would work as they did in the broader student population. It may just be more challenging to act on your intentions if the environment endorses alcohol use."
As long as alcohol use continues to be a prominent part of Greek life, it's going to be hard for members to not get caught up.
