The effects of bogus intoxication surprise people. Bogus or sham intoxication has real effects on people. As well as their and their actions.
People are made to falsely believe that they’ve been drinking alcohol. They tend to act like people who have actually been drinking.
Other people are falsely made to believe they they’ve not been drinking alcohol. And they tend to act like teetotalers.
Many of the effects of alcohol are a result of our expectations. That it will affect us in certain ways. We learn these expectations from our society. For example, some societies don’t believe that being drunk doesn’t disinhibits. And in those societies, people don’t become act wildly when drunk.
Research has found that this. When males falsely believe they have been drinking alcohol, they tend to become more aggressive. And when people falsely believe that they have been drinking alcohol, they experience greater sexual arousal. This is true of both men and women.
Other research using sham drunkenness shows that it also affects such things as memory and thinking.
Physical Effects
Of course not all of alcohol’s effects are based on expectations. The substance also has real effects. For example, it slows reaction time, breathing, and heart beat. It affects perceptions of time and distance, etc. But the fact that it does convinces us that it makes us aggressive. Or whatever else society teaches us.
People also have more control over their drunken behavior than we generally think. For instance, the Lepcha people of the Himalayas tend to become sexually promiscuous when drunk. They consider that acceptable. But violation of the incest taboo leads to punishment by certain death. And the taboo is very complicated. It extends very far and is highly complex.
Yet no matter how drunk, they never violate that complex taboo. It’s simple. They don’t want to suffer certain death. As a result, they control their behavior no matter how drunk they are.
Because alcohol doesn’t cause bad behavior it isn’t an excuse for it.
In short, bad behavior isn’t the fault of the alcohol. But it’s of the person.
Effects of Bogus Intoxication
Web
Readings
- MacAndrew, C., and Edgerton R. Drunken Comportment. A Social Explanation.
- Marlatt, G. and Rosenow, D. The think-drink effect. Psy Today, 15, 60-93.