Some people are naturally gregarious and sociable and can adapt to almost any situation. Others, perhaps the majority, can be a little uptight, especially when outside of their comfort zone. One leveler is drinking, for alcohol, it seems, really can make people more relaxed and talkative. At least according to a new survey from Swiss academics.
For the study, scientists from the University Hospital in Basel examined 60 people of good health. The people were divided into two groups, with an equal number of men and women drinking alcoholic and non-alcoholic beer. The subjects, The Guardian reports, were then given a set of tests to complete: a face recognition test, an empathy test and a sexual arousal test.
With these tests, those who drank beer were able to recognize happy faces faster; the alcohol also enhanced participants’ emotional empathy. With the pictures, those who did not drink rated most of the various photographs shown as neutral, whereas those who were drinking often rated the photographs as ‘sexually pleasing.’ With this latter point, the obtuse slang term “beer goggles” appeared to be demonstrated, which describes how the influence of alcohol can make an unattractive person appear suddenly desirable.
An analysis of the results showed that with those who drank alcoholic beer the desire to be with others, in a relaxed, friendly, talkative and open environment increased. Moreover, the more this group drank, the more this effect increased. There was no significant difference between men and women with this tendency.
Speaking with the BBC, lead researcher Professor Matthias Liechti explained why the study had been undertaken: “Although many people drink beer and know its effects through personal experience there is surprisingly little scientific data on its effects on the processing of emotional social information.” In other words, although most people know that a drink relaxes them and makes them talk more, scientists wanted to set out and see if this common perception was ‘true.’
The findings have been published in the journal Psychopharmacology. The research paper is “Alcohol acutely enhances decoding of positive emotions and emotional concern for positive stimuli and facilitates the viewing of sexual images.”
