Exposure to alcohol terms increases aggression

Simply hearing alcoholic terms such as “whisky” can make sober people more aggressive, new research shows.

Psychologists have found that simply hearing alcohol terms can increase aggressive behaviour

Psychologists from US and UK universities conducted two experiments on American undergraduates, finding that they responded more aggressively to worlds such as “whisky” and “wine”, than words such as “juice” and “milk”.

In the fist experiment, participants were exposed to these terms shortly before receiving feedback on an essay they had written, with the group “primed” by alcoholic terms beforehand responding with greater hostility.

However, researchers added that this aggressive behaviour only occurred when provoked, and typically when the provocation could not be clearly interpreted as an insult.

In the second experiment, effects of alcohol priming were found to be fairly short-lived, diminishing after seven minutes and completely disappearing after 15 minutes.

“These results provide another strong demonstration that exposing someone to alcohol-related words alone can influence social behaviour in ways that are consistent with the effects of alcohol consumption,” said Dr Vasquez, of Kent’s School of Psychology, who co-authored the study.

Vasquez added that people may become subject to the “aggression-enhancing” effects of alcohol in bars and pubs, even if they are not themselves consuming alcohol.

“We’ve shown that people attending events where alcohol is typically present do not have to drink to experience, or be subject to, the aggression-enhancing effects of alcohol, a fact that would seem to suggest caution in all such environments,” he said.

The study, entitled “Are You Insulting Me? Exposure to Alcohol Primes Increases Aggression Following Ambiguous Provocation”, is published in Personality and Social Bulletin.