Is the strength and the desirability of alcohol-related expectancies positively related? A test with an adult Swedish sample.

Workers at the Swedish Telephone Company participated in the present study to explore the alcohol-related expectancies for a general sample of Swedish citizens and relate these expectancies to various background factors and whether the expected effects of alcohol also were desired effects. A slightly modified version of the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (AEQ) was used and data were analyzed in terms of six general factors. Results indicated that men expected more sexual enhancement than women and that high consumers expected more strong effects for all six factors than the low consumers. Men further rated both sexual enhancement, physical and social pleasure, and social assertiveness as more desirable effects than did women, and the high consumers rated all six effects as more desirable than the low consumers. Results are discussed in terms of expectancies as causes of drinking.