Beer Goggles

Jonah Goldberg and Steven Haywood both find the following scientific confirmation of the "beer goggles" effect to be objectionably obvious:

A recent study at the University of Glasgow found that alcohol makes the opposite sex appear more facially attractive, at least in the eyes of the drinker. Compared to abstainers, drinkers were more likely to rate someone of the opposite sex as attractive. Alcohol had no effect on the rating of same-sex attractiveness. This may explain why drinking in bars and at parties often leads to sex.

I actually think it's an interesting finding. My hypothesis would have been that the causal mechanism was almost entirely a case of lowered standards and that something like "he looked better last night" was a pure ex post facto rationalization for past bad decision-making.

Photo by Flickr user Anders Ljungberg used under a Creative Commons license

Comments

I'm curious as to whether drinking also leads to the misspelling of the word "mandarin" on commercial products.

Posted by Al | November 12, 2007 7:13 PM

I wonder if there's an evolutionary factor at work here. Those who were affected in this way by alcohol would be more likely to reproduce. If there were a "beer goggle" gene, then over time, nearly all of us would end up having the gene because it conveys a significant evolutionary advantage.

Posted by fostert | November 12, 2007 7:21 PM

My hypothesis would have been that the causal mechanism was almost entirely a case of lowered standards

Isn't this just a mechanism for lowering standards? The finding seems obvious to me as well. I've often observed (to myself) that my female friends are more attractive when I've had a few drinks.

Posted by right | November 12, 2007 7:26 PM

I didn't follow the link, but did the participants know they were drinking alcohol> Because unless this didn't know what they were drinking (which, of course, would be difficult to set up), the rating of attractiveness may be a pre ex post facto justification...if that makes any sense.

Posted by Matt Zeitlin | November 12, 2007 7:27 PM

Al, if you are gonna complain about the spelling of Mandrin, you might as well complain that they misspell absolute, too.

Posted by Misplaced Patriot | November 12, 2007 7:51 PM

"My hypothesis would have been that the causal mechanism was almost entirely a case of lowered standards and that something like "he looked better last night" was a pure ex post facto rationalization for past bad decision-making."

Have you ever tried alcohol?

It's worth a sampling. Properly used, it can add to the fun.

And a few belts of whiskey can indeed make very average girls look quite dewy.

Posted by Petey | November 12, 2007 8:02 PM

I seldom think this, but every once and a while Petey hits the nail on the head, albeit in a slightly creepy way.

Posted by Philly | November 12, 2007 8:06 PM

How much alcohol would it take before you'd start thinking that Ron Paul will win the New Hampshire primary on his way to the GOP nomination?

(Sorry - I love the Ron Paul threads).

Posted by SoCalJustice | November 12, 2007 8:20 PM

I once read about a study comparing partygoers that drank alcoholic beer to those that only thought they were, but were drinking the non-alcoholic variety. The study claimed both groups acted the same, leaving the conclusion that much of the effect of alcohol in social settings is the knowledge we can get away with more.

Drunken disguise changes all the rules

Posted by Mark | November 12, 2007 8:21 PM

I always thought it was because alcohol makes you feel smarter, funnier, and hotter, therefore more likely to get naked in front of a perfect stranger. No?

Posted by MP | November 12, 2007 8:26 PM

1) Does "Alcohol had no effect on the rating of same-sex attractiveness" imply a GLBT effect ?

2) I always thought that alcohol lowered inhibitions. The rest is rationalization

3) The surgeon generals warning reads (in part)

GOVERNMENT WARNING: (1) According to the Surgeon general, women should not drink alcoholic beverages because of the risk of pregnancy.

Posted by marc sobel | November 12, 2007 8:45 PM

My interpretation is somewhat rosier. Isn't this of a piece with the good spirits that tipsiness can bring? One warms to people, who seem kinder, more decent, more interesting and, yes, better looking. One's inhibitions diminish together with the reserve that hold's one back, makes one critical and suspicious most of the time. Or something like thi?

Posted by J | November 12, 2007 8:52 PM

So, does alcohol mitigate homosexuality and make people more straight?
Hallelujah!

Posted by Ahhh man | November 12, 2007 8:57 PM

As Ahhh man says "So, does alcohol mitigate homosexuality and make people more straight?
Hallelujah!"

Ah, a new angle for curing homosexuality. Didn't I remember something from the early 60's about "A Real Man's Beer" as a beer commercial. You could have straights pretending to be gay for the free beer. I think there is a movie here, too bad the writers are on strike.

Posted by marc sobel | November 12, 2007 9:10 PM

Look, drinking makes you hornier, period. I would be interested to see what effect alcohol has on the parts of the brain which deal with hormones and overall urges to breed. Or alternatively, does alcohol make us more sensitive to pheromones, thus, making us more attractive to the opposite sex?

In other words, it is not as if she looks prettier necessarily (i.e. – it is not as if your vision alters in such a way that someone you would describe as pudgy becomes suddenly thin), but that you urges to breed suddenly increase to the point where your base-line standards decrease, so she moves from a 5 to an 8?

But at the end of the day, who cares. I mean, if you think of it, except for those bars where only old men from the village hang out in small towns, most bars/nightclubs are built around the idea of getting laid, or at least getting hit on. And alcohol is essentially the legal version of ecstasy. Otherwise, there would not be such a push by marketers to link alcohol with groups of attractive young people.

Posted by Brad Towne | November 12, 2007 9:11 PM

" I mean, if you think of it, except for those bars where only old men from the village hang out in small towns

Wha - Hang on, hang on! Is that what I've been doing wrong?! Damn, I knew something didn't seem right . . .

Posted by Dan S. | November 12, 2007 9:18 PM

I always thought of it as a little bit of both people actually seeming more attractive and the ex post facto justification.

That is, alcohol makes you dramatically more horny and you lower your standards enough to achieve copulation, more than you would have if you were sober.

Posted by Cain | November 12, 2007 9:24 PM

I need to hang out in the pubs in Dublin where Andrea Corr hangs out. She's already admitted that when she's drunk, she loves everybody (although she won't admit wanting to go to bed with everybody.)

I've only drunk alcohol on two occasions: 1) a bottle of Danish beer on a Shell oil tanker in a bay in Vietnam in 1968; 2) a glass of red wine at a dinner with a friend in New Jersey back in the early '70's.

Both tasted exactly the same to me - like that old alcohol based cough syrup your mother used to give you.

Personally I think desperation tend to color one's view of the attractiveness of others more than alcohol ever will.

What do you say, Matt?

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | November 12, 2007 9:26 PM

A 2 at 10 is a 10 at 2 didn't become an old saw for no reason

Posted by j mct | November 12, 2007 9:28 PM

I heard about a study that alcohol increases the size of your penis.

Posted by Eeh | November 12, 2007 9:32 PM

"...drinkers were more likely to rate someone of the opposite sex as attractive. Alcohol had no effect on the rating of same-sex attractiveness."
...among heterosexual test subjects, I assume?

The 2@10,10@2 thing (LOL, btw) is not restricted to the breeders, trust me.

Posted by torrentprime | November 12, 2007 9:33 PM

Re: Alcohol had no effect on the rating of same-sex attractiveness.

Oh boy, I can tell they neglected to include any gay folk in these studies.

Posted by JonF | November 12, 2007 9:38 PM

"provokes the desire but takes away the performance."

Posted by Jeffrey Davis | November 12, 2007 10:06 PM

I was expecting a great deal more Jonah Goldberg bashing in this thread.

Disappointing.

Posted by southpaw | November 12, 2007 11:03 PM

It would be interesting to find out how extremely attractive people were judged by drunks. Does booze not only bump a five up to a seven, but also knock a 10 down to an eight? Impaired judgment goes both ways.

Posted by Njorl | November 13, 2007 1:47 AM

Meticulous research revealed that jokes are perceived as much funnier if you are drunk.

As far as behavior of people who drank non-alcoholic beer together with people who drank alcoholic beer, well, this study had to be flawed. If you have a gathering of people who have some drinks, you can practically measure the amount of alcohol consumed by the intensity of the laughter, and as a party progresses, the jokes can descend to totally inane.

Once during my student years I had to take antibiotic so I refrained from drinking at a party. What a drag! You see and hear people having fun, but they are not funny.

So at least in the realm of appreciation of jokes, alcohol is seriously retarding the ability to discern bad from good. Imagine a drunken panel of beaty judges.

Posted by piotr | November 13, 2007 5:34 AM

How is this news? The beer-goggle effect has already been properly quantified.

Posted by main-gauche | November 13, 2007 9:02 AM

"My hypothesis would have been that the causal mechanism was almost entirely a case of lowered standards and that something like "he looked better last night" was a pure ex post facto rationalization for past bad decision-making."

Wow. In between the posts about cool new bands, hip urban culture, and the NBA, we occasionally get a glimpse of what an incredible dork Matt Yglesias really is.

You don't have to actually have sex to confirm the validity of this study. Anyone who has ever gotten someone's number while drunk - then met that person for a date while sober - can attest to its truth. You didn't get their number because your inhibitions were lowered by the drink. You didn't get their number because you were "hornier" due to the booze. You got their number because you thought going on a date at a later time was a good idea. When said dates arrives, you think: wow, I thought they were better looking than that.

Of course, to experience this thought process, once must...you know...actually go on the occasional date. Something tells me that reading Matt Yglesias is not conducive to an active dating life.

Posted by owenz | November 13, 2007 10:03 AM

"It would be interesting to find out how extremely attractive people were judged by drunks."

They've either scored by then or went home because they're tired of being hit on by ugly drunks.

Posted by Sock Puppet of the Great Satan | November 13, 2007 10:26 AM

Wow. In between the posts about cool new bands, hip urban culture, and the NBA, we occasionally get a glimpse of what an incredible dork Matt Yglesias really is.

You don't have to actually have sex to confirm the validity of this study. Anyone who has ever gotten someone's number while drunk - then met that person for a date while sober - can attest to its truth. You didn't get their number because your inhibitions were lowered by the drink. You didn't get their number because you were "hornier" due to the booze. You got their number because you thought going on a date at a later time was a good idea. When said dates arrives, you think: wow, I thought they were better looking than that.

I'll go to bat for Matt here, as I think he raised a good point. So often, saying "she looked better last night" is a way for college-aged guys to justify to their college-aged guy friends why they slept with some complete boat-load-of-ugly the previous night.

I would be interested in knowing the variations of the "beer goggles effect" on individuals. Presumably some people experience less of a difference than others, and I would count myself among them. As a twenty two year old male whose been 3..4..5..50 sheets to the wind on many occasions, I have never noticed my judgment of female appearance being diminished. Of course, perhaps women in said circumstances have been feeling the beer goggles effect quite heavily when looking at me, which is a rather sobering reflection, now that I think about it.

Posted by Neal Murray | November 13, 2007 11:52 AM

Hell, you think drinking makes the girls look good, try getting old.

Posted by serial catowner | November 13, 2007 1:34 PM

people's vision gets fuzzy when drinking, useful for hiding things that might make others less attractive. think normal def TV shows shown on HD -- where you see every flaw/scar/pancake-make-up-layer an actor/actress -- but in reverse. put simply, people look better, it's not just lowered standards/inhibition.

Posted by dj superflat | November 13, 2007 6:04 PM

Reminds me of that 70s Country song by The New Riders of the Purple Sage - "She's Looking Better Every Beer"

Well I guess it's been at least an hour, and I didn't plan to stay
I only dropped in to drink a beer, and float off on my way
It was a pale and rather plain girl over in the corner sipping wine
When I did not sit down at her table, she sat down at mine

And she's looking better every beer
Her hair is soft and shiny now, her eyes are bright and clear
How could it be I didn't notice her when I first came in here
Now she's looking better every beer

Well the bar lights and the candles throw a little color on the chin
And two by two the people leave who one by one came in
The jukebox plays and the coke-filled ashtrays warns the time that flies
And every time I drain my mug I can't believe my eyes

She's looking better every beer
Her hair is soft and shiny now, her eyes are bright and clear
How could it be I didn't notice her when I first came in here
Now she's looking better every beer

Posted by Campesino | November 13, 2007 7:30 PM

Now that I'm thinking about it, Mickey Gilley had a similar song about the same time entitled: "Don't the Girls All Get Prettier At Closin' Time"

All the girls all get prettier at closin' time
They all begin to look like movie stars
All the girls all get prettier at closin' time
When the change starts taking place
It puts a glow on every face
Of the fallen angels of the back street bars

If I could rate 'em on a scale from one to ten
I'm lookin' for a nine, but eight could work right in
A few more drinks and I might slip to a five or even four
But when tomorrow mornin' comes
And I wake up with a number one
I swear I'll never do it anymore

All the girls all get prettier at closin' time
They all begin to look like movie stars
All the girls all get prettier at closin' time
When the change starts taking place
It puts a glow on ev'ry face
Of the fallen angels of the back street bars

(Instrumental Break)

I don't mean to criticize the girls at all
'Cause I know Robert Redford even overhauls
An' we all picture in our minds a girl that looks just right
Now ain't it funny, ain't it strange
How a man's opinion change
When he starts to face that lonely night

All the girls all get prettier at closin' time
They all begin to look like movie stars
All the girls all get prettier at closin' time
When the change starts taking place
It puts a glow on every face
Of the fallen angels of the back street bars

The fallen angels of those backstreet bars

Posted by Campesino | November 13, 2007 7:36 PM