For example, in a prospective study of over 3,000 undergraduates, Park et al. (2009) found that individuals high on impulsivity/novelty seeking appeared to select into Greek societies (i.e., college fraternities/sororities) because of the heavy drinking environment associated with these organizations. Park et al. (2009) also found that individuals high in extraversion selected into the Greek system despite not being particularly heavy drinkers prior to college. Thus, extraverted students may participate in the Greek system to meet their higher activity/social needs as means to enhance positive emotions. Notably, Greek membership places members at risk for heavy drinking, regardless of motives, and thus remains a robust environmental risk factor for problematic alcohol involvement. Overall, these findings suggest that personality also contributes to AUDs through self-selection into risky group memberships that, in turn, appear to increase problematic drinking behaviors through later socialization processes.
