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American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 48, No. 1, 130-136 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0002764204267258

Believing is Seeing

The Co-Construction of Everyday Myths in the Media about College Drinking

Linda Costigan Lederman

Rutgers University

Joshua B. Lederman

Emmanuel College

Robert D. Kully

California State University, Los Angeles

This article argues that ordinary and mundane everyday life myths are the products of co-constructed meanings. It examines how images that students garner from the media may shape their views of everyday experiences in subtle and often pervasive ways. The myth of dangerous college drinking as a pervasive social norm is examined as a case in point. Despite the reality that most college students do not drink dangerously, news reports, media images, and extraordinary experiences converge to create a misperception of drinking as the norm. This article uses a classical metaphor of image and reality to discuss these issues.

Key Words: college drinking • co-construction of reality • media literacy • Plato’s Allegory of the Cave • experiential learning


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