Social Threat Reduces Alcohol Consumption among College Students

Abstract

Abstract Aims Past research suggests that people report a greater desire to consume alcohol when they experience social threat—or threats to their social selves, such as social exclusion. Nevertheless, experimental research on the role of social threat in alcohol consumption is limited. The present study examined the causal relationship between social threat and wine consumption. Methods Undergraduate students (N = 83; Mage = 21.8 years old, SDage = 1.62 years old; 72.3% women; 61.4% Latinx/Hispanic) participated in a study under the pretense that they were in a focus group gauging students’ opinions of a bar being constructed at their university. During the study, participants and two confederate researchers completed a group activity in which they selected design elements for the bar. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In the social threat condition, confederates rejected participants’ design choices and socially excluded them during a follow-up task. In the social acceptance condition, confederates supported participants’ choices and did not socially exclude them. All participants then completed a wine taste test. Results Contrary to predictions, an independent-samples t-test revealed that participants who experienced social threat consumed significantly less wine than those who were socially accepted, t(81) = −2.22, P = 0.03, d = −0.49. Furthermore, a linear regression test revealed that this effect persisted even when controlling for typical alcohol-consumption behavior, b = 56.09, t = −2.50, P = 0.02, d = −0.61. Conclusion The relationship between social threat and alcohol consumption may be more nuanced than anticipated. Discussion centers around two potential moderators including positive affect and identity.