MEAN DRUNK? ALCOHOL PERSONALITY STUDY SAYS MAYBE NOT

Newsweek:

You may think you’re a mean drunk. Or a funny drunk. Or even a mellow drunk. But do other people see you that way? A new study by psychologists at the University of Missouri found that many of the mood changes we experience as a result of alcohol are not always so apparent to others—despite what we may think.

Rachel Winograd, clinical psychologist at the Missouri Institute of Mental Health, and colleagues wanted to understand the discrepancy between how we see ourselves and how others see us as the mood-altering effects of alcohol set in. So they conducted a study to see just how obvious alcohol-induced personality changes were to outside observers.

…

The researchers recorded the proceedings. Then, about 30 trained research assistants watched the videos and rated the personality changes. According to the report, published in Clinical Psychological Science, the effects of alcohol were sometimes obvious and sometimes completely invisible. In particular, perceived changes in what psychologists call “extraversion” traits were the same for both the drinker and the observer. As the participants felt themselves becoming more gregarious or assertive, the observers could see those changes from the outside.

Read the whole story: Newsweek