The study participants themselves believed that their temperament changed significantly when they had consumed a lot of alcohol.
“Excuse me, I was under the influence of alcohol,” is a phrase that will be difficult to use in the future when friends and acquaintances bring up your blunt comments and inappropriate phone messages after a night of debauchery.
If a recent study conducted at the University of Missouri is anything to go by, alcohol doesn’t change the mood as much as we think.
Monitors drinking
A total of 156 people participated in the study, and they were first asked to describe their personality, both with and without alcohol.
Then the group was divided into two and they were asked to drink so and so many drinks. Some of the participants were given mineral water, while others were given alcohol mixtures that resulted in a blood alcohol level of 0.9 ppm.
After 15 minutes, the participants engaged in various social activities closely monitored by observers outside the room.
Become more open
It was interesting that those who were under the influence of alcohol had the opinion that they would be less conscientious, less open-minded and less open to new life experiences.
However, the inspectors did not notice any changes. All they noticed was that the intoxicated participants became more open.
“We were surprised to see the contrast between the self-esteem of the participants on the one hand and that of the observers on the other hand,” said Rachel Winograd, one of the team of researchers from the Association for Psychological Science. .
She and her colleagues hope to be able to repeat the study in an environment where it is considered more normal to consume alcohol.
