I ran across an interesting article in the Washington Post and the Spirits Business the other day about how men are more likely to catch a smile while consuming alcohol. The study
published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the
Association for Psychological Science, showed in men, alcohol increases
sensitivity to “rewarding” social behaviors such as smiling.
“This
experimental alcohol study, which included a social context, finds the clearest
evidence yet of greater alcohol reinforcement for men than women,” said
Catharine Fairbairn, psychological scientist and lead researcher of the
University of Pittsburgh.
“Many
men report that the majority of their social support and social bonding time
occurs within the context of alcohol consumption."
“We
wanted to explore the possibility that social alcohol consumption was more
rewarding to men than to women – the idea that alcohol might actually
‘lubricate’ social interaction to a greater extent among men.”
"When
there was alcohol around, people "caught" smiles more readily -- but
only in all-male groups. In mixed groups and all-female groups, alcohol didn't
make smiles any more viral than non-alcoholic and placebo drinks. But sober
all-female groups had more contagious smiles than their male counterparts.
Men had to raise their blood alcohol level to be as social and friendly as
women were while sober."
According to lead author and University of Pittsburgh PhD candidate Catharine Fairbairn, the
danger here is that most people think of "social drinking" as fairly
harmless. "Excessive drinking in social settings is
less likely to raise red flags than habitual drinking alone". "But because men
really do seem to enjoy social situations more as they consume more alcohol,
these group settings might be where they develop Dangerous drinking habits."
You can read more at http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2014/09/30/when-men-drink-their-smiles-get-more-contagious/
