Schippers G M, De Boer M C, Van Der Staak C P, Cox W M
Psychological Laboratory, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Addict Behav. 1997 May-Jun;22(3):305-14. doi: 10.1016/s0306-4603(96)00017-2.
To study the effects of alcohol consumption and expectancy on self-disclosure and self-reported anxiety during a social interaction, 32 male and 32 female social drinkers were assigned to one of four groups comprising a 2 x 2 factorial balanced-placebo design. Alcohol expectancy reduced the intimacy level of self-disclosure but not the amount of self-disclosure. Alcohol consumption had no effect. Thus, in contrast to the common view that alcohol functions as a "social lubricant," it served to inhibit social interaction. There was a three-way interaction among alcohol consumption, expectancy, and gender of subjects, such that the largest increase in anxiety was reported by male subjects who expected but did not receive alcohol. Thus, the previously reported inverse relationship between anxiety and self-disclosure was not confirmed, and alcohol's effect on anxiety seems unrelated to its effect on self-disclosure.
