Attitudes toward fraternity hazing among fraternity members, sorority members, and non-Greek students

This study was designed to look at differences between Greek and non-Greek college students' perceptions of a hazing incident that had taken place in a fraternity setting. Subjects were 231 students (112 Greeks, 119 independents) at a moderate size state university in the eastern United States with a moderate Greek presence. Subjects read one of four conditions of a hazing scenario involving an overdose of alcohol consumed voluntarily or involuntarily administered by a fraternity president or fraternity brother. Dependent measures included attributions of responsibility as well as causal attributions. Authoritarianism was explored as well. Responsibility attributions and causal attributions varied with the voluntary versus involuntary nature of the overdose and with membership in Greek organizations. Finally, Greek students were found to score higher on authoritarianism than were non-Greek students.