A prototype analysis of psychological situations through the lens of alcohol expectancies and gender.

The psychological situation, with significant origins in cognitive and personality psychology, consists of the meaningful environment encountered by an individual at a given time. In the present study, participants generated the characteristics (environmental, emotional, social, and cognitive) that they found as characteristic of "dating," "blind dating," and "drinking with friends" situations. Participants also completed a brief form of the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (Brown, Goldman, Inn, & Anderson, 1980). Results indicate that women were more likely to characterize "drinking with friends" with negative descriptors; women were also likely to have more overlap than men in their schemas for "dating" and "drinking with friends." Participants with stronger alcohol expectancies also displayed more overlap in their schemas for "dating" and "drinking with friends" than did those with weaker expectancies. Results are discussed in terms of differing drinking experiences for men and women, and on the relationship between situational cues and expectancies.