Alcohol in a Social Context: Findings From Event-Contingent Recording Studies of Everyday Social Interactions
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research (OnlineEarly Articles). 22 Jan 2008

Data concerning the effects of alcohol on social interaction in everyday life are limited.

Social interactions involving alcohol were primarily characterized by higher levels of agreeable behaviors, by perceptions of greater agreeableness in others, and by more positive mood. Alcohol consumption was not associated with higher levels of quarrelsomeness.

Alcohol consumption in a social context may have predominantly positive effects, an observation which is at odds with most alcohol-induced aggression experiments performed in laboratory settings. Drinking in everyday life may be less likely to result in aggression because, unlike in most laboratory experiments, individuals can choose among a variety of behaviors in response to social cues and the alcohol dose consumed is usually lower.

Event-contingent recording provides a new approach for the study of alcohol’s effects in everyday life and the conditions in which alcohol might result in interpersonal aggression.


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