Race as a Moderator of the Relationship between Rejection Concern and Drinks Per Week

This cross-sectional study examined how race and drinks per week impacted rejection concern. The literature has established that individuals who are higher in rejection concern tend to drink more. Although race and rejection concern have been researched in the context of drinking, to our knowledge, there is no research that explores the interaction between race and rejection concern in predicting drinking. Three hundred and seven students enrolled at a large southern university participated in this one-time, online cross-sectional cultural study (Mean age 22.93 years; 62.5% Caucasian; 37.5% Asian). Findings revealed that Caucasians consumed more alcoholic drinks per week. Contrary to expectations, results revealed that higher rejection concern did not significantly predict drinking. However, a significant interaction between race and rejection concern emerged. Caucasians who were higher in rejection concern appeared to drink less than Caucasians who were lower in rejection concern. Conversely, Asians tended to drink small amounts of alcohol, regardless of levels of rejection concern. The implications of these findings indicate that race and individual differences such as rejection concern can affect drinking differentially, possibly due to divergent cultural values.