Consumption
Below are questions pertaining to Reed students' feelings about consumption.
During a month-long period, how often do you intentionally consume pornographic materials? (compared to typical Reed student)
Definition: For the context of this study, pornography is defined as a form of media including (but not limited to) videos, images, audio, literature, and AI-produced content consumed with the intent of sexual-fulfillment.
Year: 2025
Scale: 1 = Never, 2 = Once every few months, 3 = Once a month, 4 = A few times a month, 5 = Once a week, 6 = A few times a week, 7 = Once a day, 8 = More than once a day
Actual norm = 3.53 (2.15)
Perceived norm = 4.65 (1.28)
t(169) = -7.93, p < 0.0001, statistically significant
Participants reported consuming pornographic material less often than a typical Reed student.
How often in an average month do you consume marijuana to get high?
(compared to average Reed student)
Year: 2025
Scale: Slider from 0 times a month to 60 times a month
Actual norm = 6.57 (13.69)
Perceived norm = 10.98 (7.57)
t(169) = -4.10, p < 0.0001, statistically significant
Participants reported consuming marijuana less often than the average Reed student.
How many milligrams (mg) of caffeine do you consume in a day?
(compared to average Reed student)
Provided for reference: Matcha ~70mg, Green Tea ~35mg, Black Tea ~55mg, Chai ~ 47mg, Coffee ~90mg, Yerba Mate ~75mg, Celcius ~250mg, Monster ~160, Red Bull ~110
Year: 2024
Scale: 1 = 0-49mg, 2 = 50-99mg, 3 = 100-149mg, 4 = 150-199mg, 5 = 200-249mg, 6 = 250-299mg, 7 = 300-349mg, 8 = 350-399mg, 9 = 400+mg
Actual norm = 2.77 (2.04)
Perceived norm = 4.44 (1.59)
t(173) = -10.55, p < 0.0001, statistically significant
Participants reported consuming less caffeine than the average Reed student.
How cool do you appear when smoking a cigarette? If you do not smoke, report how cool you think you would look if you were to smoke.
(compared to typical Reed student)
Year: 2025
Scale: 1 (Extremely uncool) to 7 (Extremely cool)
Actual norm = 3.27 (1.88)
Perceived norm = 5.05 (1.32)
t(168) = -10.40, p < 0.0001, statistically significant
Participants rated their self-perceived smoking coolness as significantly less than they rated the assumed self-perceived coolness of the typical Reed student.
How many cigarettes do you smoke in a day, a week, and a month?
(compared to typical Reed student)
Year: 2025
Scale: Open-ended response for day, week, and month. Here we will focus on the week variable.
Actual norm = 6.66 (23.11)
Perceived norm = 29.46 (25.30)
t(155) = -8.75, p < 0.0001, statistically significant
Participants reported smoking fewer cigarettes in a week than the typical Reed student.
On an average day, how often do you think you actively engage in social media? (Example platforms: Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Reddit)
(compared to typical Reed student)
Year: 2025
Scale: Sliding scale from 0 hours to 24 hours
Actual norm = 3.56 (2.70)
Perceived norm = 4.93 (2.65)
t(173) = -7.81, p < 0.0001, statistically significant
Participants reported actively engaging less with social media than the typical Reed student.
How often do you drink enough water in a day? “Enough” being however much is healthy for you.
(compared to typical Reed student)
Year: 2025
Scale: 1 = Never, 2 = Almost never, 3 = Rarely, 4 = Sometimes, 5 = Often, 6 = Almost every day, 7 = Every day
Actual norm = 4.61 (1.59)
Perceived norm = 3.86 (0.99)
t(173) = 6.22, p < 0.0001
Participants reported that they drink enough water more frequently than the typical Reed student.
How many non-essential mailed packages do you receive over the course of an average two-week period?
(compared to typical Reed student)
Year: 2025
Scale: 0-15
Actual norm = 1.04 (1.40)
Perceived norm = 2.21 (1.63)
t(173) = -10.24, p < 0.0001, statistically significant
Participants reported receiving fewer non-essential mailed packages than the typical Reed student.