People Turn Into One of Four Characters When Drunk

      “Searching for Mr. Hyde: A five-factor approach to characterizing ‘types of drunks’” the study asked 364 men and women to consider their behavior when sober and then again when drunk.   A team of psychologists has categorized drunks into four groups – Mr. Hyde, Ernest Hemingway, Mary Poppins and The Nutty Professor.   Until today, alcoholic lifestyle was determined based on the categorization of the people into two groups – drinkers or non-drinkers.   Now a new study has divided drinkers into four cultural character types, based on their behavior after they have downed two shots.   The four categories suggested by the researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia include Ernest Hemingway, Mr. Hyde, Mary Poppins and The Nutty Professor.   Each category has been associated with a specific set of behavioral characteristics that helped researchers differentiate the alcoholics.

 

    During the study, the researchers found that a majority of people four out of ten belonged to the Hemingway group, meaning that they behaved much the same before and after the two shots.   People belonging to the group Mary Poppins became extraverted after getting drunk.  “The Mary Poppins group of drinkers essentially captures the sweet, responsible drinkers who experience fewer alcohol-related problems.”   Mr. Hyde type of people transformed into hostile characters after  having two shots.   They noticed that people belonging to this group were “less responsible and less intellectual." On the other hand, people who were categorized into the group of The Nutty Professor felt gregarious after two shots and had a tendency to be  shy when sober.

     During the study – which has been published in the Addiction Research and Theory – the  group of  men and women to fill out a single personality test twice. The first set of test was supposed to be filled thinking that they are sober, and the other thinking that they are drunk.   “These results, as well as the concept of ‘drunk personality’ more broadly, hold promise for developing novel assessment-based and motivational interventions for problem drinkers.”