Psychology drinkers feel more beautiful

Psychology: Anyone who drinks or even believes in alcohol feels more attractive, according to a study

31/03/2012

Alcohol consumption tarnishes the senses, which should be generally known. What is new is that drinkers in general „More attractive“ as a new study by US and French psychologists found. The study results indicate that the mere fact that you have consumed alcohol, leads to „more beautiful“ to feel. A deceptive self-perception with fatal addiction consequences.

External unattractiveness due to excessive alcohol consumption
Anyone who constantly hangs on the bottle is classified by its environment rather than unattractive. In addition to fatty liver, cardiovascular diseases and other health problems, increased alcohol consumption leads to red noses, overweight or underweight, and broken capillaries on the face. These traits generally make people decide that their counterpart has a perceptible addiction problem. But the affected person himself seems to assess completely different, as a research found out. Crucial, however, was not the fact that actually alcohol was consumed, but the belief in it, strangely enough already enough during the study.

Perceptual effects through social drinking
A consortium of American and French scientists has succeeded in a study to unmask a contradictory effect. The psychologists have found out that consumers are not just others „nice drink“, rather „also yourself“, as in the trade magazine „Journal of Psychology“ write. However, this perception effect is not a consequence of the active ingredients contained, but is based on the „positive social connotation“ from alcohol consumption. In other words, whoever thinks they are real or supposed to drink, turns „relaxed“. The title of the research work is also significant: "The beauty lies in the eye of the beer drinker"

A total of 19 alcohol consumers participated in a bar in Grenoble for the evaluation of the first round. During consumption, subjects were asked about typical attributes. The questions were: „How attractive do you find yourself“, or „How original and humorous do you rate yourself“. The higher the measured alcohol level, the more attractive the study participants were.

Same effect even without alcohol
To secure the results, a second study test was undertaken in the laboratory. A total of 94 men of various ages participated in this study. The participants were not informed of the actual purpose of the research. They were told to test a drink. The subjects were divided into two equal groups. The first group was given a drink with alcohol and the second a non-alcoholic drink. Both groups of participants did not know what kind of drink it was. Afterwards, the men were asked the same questions related to attractiveness. Also this time, those ranked as special „nice or humorous“ One, if they believed they had consumed an alcoholic beverage. The researchers made an astonishing discovery: The self-perception effect also occurred to those who only believed that they had drunk hard liquor.

The result was also evident in those who ate a non-alcoholic beverage, but thought they drank alcohol. The same was true of the scientists in the opposite direction: participants who actually drank alcohol but assumed that they were taking a soft drink did not classify themselves as more attractive than before. „The active substance as such can therefore not be responsible“, the psychologists summarize. Laurent Bègue, Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Pierre-Mendès-France said: „Our study shows that believing in the simple fact that you have drunk alcohol makes you look more attractive. The dose itself showed no effect in our study.“

The consequences of the perception effects on health can be fatal. According to the Federal Center for Health Education (BzgA), nearly 10 million people in Germany regularly take harmful amounts of alcohol. Around 1.3 million people are considered addicted. Alcohol is a cytotoxin and damages almost all organs in the body. It has been proven that in addition to liver diseases, brain, heart muscle and cancer disorders are strongly favored. Every day, 200 people die as a result of overconsumption. (Sb)

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Picture: Gerd Altmann