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Use of marijuana and alcohol among current college students (N = 1101) was compared to the perceptions and use of entering freshmen (N = 481) surveyed before the start of classes. Entering freshmen significantly misperceived campus norms for marijuana use, over-estimating that almost every student used in the last 30 days, p less than 0.001. Perceptions of alcohol use were relatively accurate. These discrepancies in perception could account for why 40.5% of entering students perceived the campus atmosphere to be promoting marijuana use, whereas only 16.2% perceived the campus atmosphere to be promoting alcohol use. How these misperceptions of social norms might be influenced by the reputation of the campus-and how this might affect potential applicants and enrolled students' behaviors are discussed.

Investigations into perceptions of causality typically presume simple causal explanations. In contrast, this study allowed account complexity and structure to vary. Eighty-nine participants were asked to choose the causes necessary to explain one of four outcomes differing in severity and valence of consequences, They had eight possible causes to choose from that varied along dimensions of locus, stability, and controllability. Most explanations were three causes in length arranged in a temporal chain. Internal, stable, and controllable causes were used more than external, unstable, and uncontrollable causes. Results were consistent with the fundamental attribution error and the need for predictability and control. This suggests that complex explanations of necessary causality may be more common than previously assumed, but that the dimensions used for explanation remain consistent with established theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]