You Drink, I Drink: Alcohol Consumption, Social Context and Personality
Author(s): Jordan B. Peterson, Janice Morey, Daniel M. Higgins
Abstract: 30 drinkers (oversampled for heavier drinking, from within an undergraduate sample of 60) were assessed with the NEO-FFI, queried regarding weekly self-reported habitual drinking behavior, and subjected to an alcoholic beverage sham taste-test, in a randomly-paired dyad. Extraverted, emotionally stable individuals reported more habitual drinking occasions per week (r = .61, p < .002, for the combination of traits), but not more drinks/occasion, or drinks per week. Personality did not predict total lab alcohol consumption, but such consumption was strongly influenced by total lab alcohol consumption of the drinking partner (r = .52, p < .001). Median split of participants revealed that the effect of such social influence was substantively enhanced among individuals high in each of agreeableness and extraversion, with a strong trend for openness. Normative social drinking behavior appears strongly influenced by social context. The effect of such context, in turn, appears moderated by personality.
Pages: 50-58
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