Researchers say each instance of binge drinking lowers a graduates chance of employment
September 27, 2017
A new study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology finds that college graduates who binge drink multiple times per month are less likely to be hired.
Researchers from Tel Aviv University and Cornell University say that applicants are 1.4 percent less likely to land a job for each instance of binge drinking throughout any given month. They define binge drinking as having four or more alcoholic drinks within two hours for women, or five or more alcoholic drinks within two hours for men.
"The manner in which students drink appears to be more influential than how much they drink when it comes to predicting the likelihood of getting a job upon graduation," said study co-author Professor Peter Bamberger.
The study analyzed 827 participants who graduated from Cornell, the University of Washington, the University of Florida, and the University of Michigan between 2014 and 2016. The researchers found that non-binge pattern drinking didnt affect prospective employment, but the likelihood of negative outcomes built quickly as soon as drinking behaviors hit binge levels.
"A student who binge-drinks four times a month has a 6 percent lower probability of finding a job than a student who does not engage in similar drinking habits. Those students who drank heavily six times a month increased their unemployment probability to 10 percent," said Bamberger.
While the study results may be shocking to some, previous studies suggest thatbinge drinking among college students is actually declining overall. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) says that binge drinking declined every year from 2005 to 2014 among college students; however, excessive drinking was still found to be problematic among non-college students.