The purpose of this study was to explore trends in situational norms and attitudes toward drinking and to assess the associations of norms and attitudes with current drinking and frequent heavy drinking patterns among whites, blacks, and hispanics between 1984 and 1995. Data were obtained from two nationwide probability samples of US households. Results indicated that there were no broad trends in situational norms and attitudes toward drinking between 1984 and 1995 among whites, blacks, and hispanics in the US. The variations in norms and attitudes detected between 1984 and 1995 were ethnic and gender-specific. For all of the groups studied, situational norms and attitudes were highly predictive of both current drinking and frequent heavy drinking patterns.