The Influence of Fraternity and Sorority Involvement: A Critical Analysis of Research (1996-2013): AEHE Volume 39, Number 6 (J-B ASHE Higher Education Report Series (AEHE))

Despite negative connotations and empirical evidence to support detrimental aspects of fraternity and sorority membership, decades of nationally representative data show students remain interested in joining. This monograph reconsiders the value of membership, based on scholarly research published since 1996 in the following ways:

• Through identifying behavioral, psychological and educational outcomes of fraternity/sorority involvement
• By differentiating outcomes between and among organizations
• Through recommending implications for policy and practice based on research.

Findings revealed an unexpected amount of scholarly research interest on fraternity and sorority involvement, and membership correlates in the last two decades from a variety of disciplines.

Despite a disproportionate focus on behavioral correlates, such as alcohol use, hazing and sexual assault, researchers in the past decade have slowly added psychosocial and educational considerations, building toward a more holistic understanding of outcomes related to involvement.

J. PATRICK BIDDIX, PhD, is an associate professor of Higher Education and coordinator of the College Student Personnel Program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

MALINDA M. MATNEY, PhD, is a senior research associate for Student Life and lecturer in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan.

ERIC M. NORMAN, EdD, is the dean of students at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne and a limited-term lecturer in the College of Engineering, where he teaches organizational leadership development.

GEORGIANNA L. MARTIN, PhD, is an assistant professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration at the University of Southern Mississippi.