Attitude Changes and Self-Perceived Skill Gains from Collegiate Greek Organization Membership

Objectives. We examine if membership in social collegiate Greek letter organizations (college fraternities and sororities) affects students’ social, political, and economic views, as well as their perceptions on what skills they gained during college tenure. Methods. We use a sample of over 103,000 American undergraduate college students from 463 institutions of higher education, who were interviewed both very near matriculation and graduation, and a propensity score matching framework. Results. Among our results, membership appears to alter opinions in favor of marijuana legalization, traditional gender roles in the household, casual sex, and the belief that racial discrimination is no longer a problem in the United States. Regarding self-perceived skill change, members report relatively large premiums in leadership abilities and interpersonal skills. Conclusions. Though we do uncover evidence of several effects, overall, impact magnitudes are quite small, and there are many opinions and skills for which Greeks are indistinguishable from other college graduates.