Happy Hour:DO ANGRY WOMEN CHOOSE ALCOHOL?

EMILY CLINE, MARISSA WILSON, Kailey hARTMAN, COURTNEY CLEMENT, SANDRA TREJO

Introduction-Alcohol is commonly associated

with anger, which is why anger management is often a part of alcohol treatment.

-There have been reports that suggest women are more likely than men to use alcohol to relieve stress and anger, but no concrete evidence.

Introduction-There have been studies done to

show alcohol increases aggression, but aggression and anger are not interchangeable.

-To conduct this study, the researchers used the past studies as examples and were able to create a more straightforward study on alcohol consumption particularly in women who were made angry.

IntroductionResearch shows that men and women are provoked in

different ways. For this study on women, the researchers provoked the women to be angry by “female specific” ways. The female confederate in the study was annoying and condescending. The researchers also included a task that was difficult and frustrating with a strict time limit.

Introduction-Following suggestions of the National

Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the researchers did not give any real alcohol to participants. Instead, participants in the study were given non-alcoholic beer, but were led to believe it was real alcohol.

-Participants were also given ginger ale to decipher whether they were thirsty, or if they were specifically seeking out alcohol.

Method: Participants• 30 women from a small southeastern USA city

• Ranged from ages 21-30, with the mean age at 22.5 years

• Mean of 15.87 (SD=1.19) years of education

• 29 out of the 30 women were Caucasian

• 24 out of 30 women were full or part time university students

• Participants were recruited through advertisements in the local newspaper and on posted fliers.

Method: Participants-Two participants had to be excluded from the study

because one detected the deception during the anger provocation, and the other because she qualified for an alcohol dependence diagnosis.

-The results reflect 28 participants in total, 14 for each condition group.

Method: MaterialsFor the study, the researchers used a number of tools to access anger, but also to access whether or not another emotion was mimicking anger.

1. Quantity-Frequency-Index

2. Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist-Revised

3. 7 point Likert-type Feeling Thermometer

4. Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire

• Six subscales: global positive changes, sexual enhancement, social and physical pleasure, social assertiveness, relaxation, and arousal/aggression

Method: Procedure• Participant and confederate fill out demographics, QFI,

baseline MAACL-R and “Feeling Thermometer.

• Anger provocation manipulation (8 minutes)

Provocation- Impossible anagrams- Confederate taunting- Loud timer

No Provocation- Easy anagrams (most all

solved)- Silent confederate

Method: Procedure (cont’d)

• Drinking behavior (20 minutes)• Confederate and participant given 2 “beers” and

2 ginger-ales• Rated the taste and were invited to finish any

drinks they wanted• AEQ filled out

• Debriefing• Assess effectiveness of deceptions• Mollify linger distress • Help participant understand importance of

research and preserve integrity

Results• Participants in the

provocation condition reported higher hostility scores than those in the non-provocation condition

• Provocation participants also had higher feeling thermometer anger scores than others

Results• The amount of “beer” and ginger ale

consumed was analyzed to determine the participants choice and intent to consume alcohol.

• Total beverage consumption was recorded in milliliters for each of the two beverages

• On average, participants in the provocation condition consumed 170 ml of placebo beer and 199.5 ml of ginger ale

Results• To determine whether or not women exposed to

the Provocation condition would consume more placebo beer, an analysis of covariance was conducted

• This was done to ensure that researchers were truly testing the effects of anger manipulation.

• Their results were significant. Those in the provocation condition consumed more placebo beer than those in the non-provocation condition.

Results• Within the participants in the provocation group,

researchers found a significant, positive correlation between assertiveness and amount of “beer” consumed

• The more each woman in this group believed that alcohol would make them more assertive, the more they drank.

• “Provocation protocol was successful in increasing anger and hostility, specifically, without affecting other emotions”.

• “Participants exposed to the Provocation protocol consumed significantly more beer than participants in the control group”.

• “No group differences on consumption of ginger ale strengthens indications that participants specifically chose to drink more alcohol when they were provoked”.

• “The more women expected alcohol to increase assertiveness, the more they drank, but only when they were provoked”.

Discussion

• Provocation Protocol:• Anger/hostility was the specific

emotion induced by the protocol, not a result of a “diffuse negative affect”.

• Women who were provoked consumed more “beer” than the control group.• This suggests that anger may be a

determining factor in some women’s consumption of alcohol.

• Applications for rehabilitation:• Anger may be a reason for relapse

into alcoholism• Anger management may help in

women’s rehab programs

Discussion

• The participants specifically chose to drink more alcohol; there was no difference in the amount of ginger ale the control participants drank.

• Expectations made a difference in the decision to drink; women who expected alcohol to make them more assertive drank more when provoked (and only when they were provoked).

• This could be an “active coping strategy” to help them face the aggressor and retaliate.

• There wasn’t an association between drinking and the expectation that alcohol would have relaxing effects (as opposed to empowering effects)

• “Anger management treatment protocols might be tailored to reflect the strength of her association between drinking and assertiveness”.

discussion

Strengths • Variety of instruments to measure multiple emotions

• Manipulation increased anger and hostility without changing levels of other rated emotions

• Use of gender-specific manipulation

• Study is consistent with past survey research

• Non-alcoholic “beer” instead of real alcohol

• No one voiced suspicions that the alcohol was fake

• The results of the experiment must be viewed as the intention to drink, instead of actual drinking behaviors.

• Other variables could have confounded the Provocation protocol (i.e. the loud timer, frustration at the problems, the speed at which the confederate finished her anagrams, etc.)

• Hypothesis not given a “fair test” so findings about expectancies should be seen as preliminary

• Sample was small and lacked diversity. Not representative of women in general

Limitations

• Replications are needed with a larger, more representative sample.

• Do other methods of provocation lead to the same results?

• Are the results gender-specific to women?

• A gender-specific Provocation protocol might be necessary.

• Are alcohol expectations specific to women? What role do they play in alcohol consumption?

• What happens if the participants consume real alcohol? Would it relax them, or would it intensify their irritation and decrease inhibitions?

Future Directions

References• Morrison, P. M., et al., Do angry women choose alcohol? Addictive

Behaviors (2012), doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2012.03.018