Although the vast majority of adults have direct experience of consuming alcohol, there is little scientific data on the effects of alcohol. What effects does it have on empathy? And the perception of emotions? What about sexual arousal?
A new study carried out by scientists at the University Hospital of Basel (Switzerland) have investigated the way in which alcohol alters the way we relate to others and its effect on sexual arousal.
The researchers recruited 60 healthy participants (30 men and 30 women) aged between 18 and 50 years. Subsequently, 30 of them – chosen at random – drank a glass of beer with alcohol (0.5 l depending on weight and gender), which raised their blood alcohol content to around 0.4 g / l. The other 30 control subjects were given non-alcoholic beer.
All the volunteers had to perform various tasks including a facial recognition test, an empathy test, and a sexual arousal test. At the end of the tests, the groups were mixed and the process was repeated. The results revealed that drinking beer helped people to see happy faces faster and to want to be with other people in a pleasant situation. This effect was greater among women than in men, but it was also greater in those who had previously shown some social inhibition; Finally, drinking beer made it easier – especially for women – to see images of explicit sex, although it did not seem to lead to increased sexual arousal.
As a curiosity, before, during and after the experiment, the participants’ oxytocin levels did not change.
“ While many people drink beer and know its effects through personal experience, there is surprisingly little scientific data on its effects on the processing of social and emotional information. We have found that drinking a glass of beer helps people see happy faces faster and improves concern for positive emotional situations. Alcohol also makes it easier to view sexual images , consistent with disinhibition, but it does not actually increase sexual arousal . These effects of alcohol on social cognition probably increase sociability ”, explains Matthias Liechti, leader of the work.
The study has been published in the journal Psychopharmacology.
