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2.4. Sociability
2.4.1. Sociability in ethnographic and observational research
Alcohol has been noted to encourage sociability and is a hallmark of social greetings and gatherings worldwide (Heath, 1995). Partanen (1991, p. 228) concluded that "alcohol is a social drug par excellence." Room (1972, p. 33) observed, "drinking and sociability are often so intertwined in American life that it is hard to separate the two functions" (cited in Pernanen, 1991). This supposition is supported by experimental research showing learned contextual effects (Doty and de Witt, 1995), but a direct pharmacological effect for sociability has also been measured (Smith et al., 1992). The latter effect is supported by the very universality of alcohol's role in social facilitation.
2.4.2. Self-report studies of sociability as a motive for drinking
Sociability is often mentioned in surveys as a primary motive for and consequence of drinking (see Lowe, 1994; Roizen, 1983). In a diary study among young adults in Australia, the top two reasons listed by both men and women for drinking were to be sociable (30%-49%) and to celebrate (19%-15%) (Wilks and Callan, 1990). In a questionnaire survey in four Scandinavian countries, the positive consequences of drinking were "manifested first and foremost by a loss of inhibitions in company with other people and being better able to establish contact with other people" (Hauge and Irgens-Jensen, 1990, p. 652). A survey of French-Canadians found conviviality the most prevalent (64%) perceived benefit of alcohol (Demers et al., 1996).
2.4.3. Social motivations and drinking outcomes
Drinking alcohol to gain social benefits could work in either of two ways. On the one hand, the social component serves to regulate drinking behavior (Caudill and Marlatt, 1975; Partanen, 1991). On the other hand, tavern studies show that sociable drinking can lead to greater excess than solitary drinking (Storm and Cutler, 1981). Partanen (1991) has equated drinking for sociability with intoxication. Cross-culturally, social celebrations and socially cohesive events are sometimes associated with decidedly heavy alcohol consumption (MacAndrew and Edgerton, 1969; cf. Peace, 1992).
Attempts to relate social drinking to levels and types of consumption have yielded mixed results. In a national survey, Kilty et al. (1987) labeled as "convivial" a style of drinking which occurred in a social context, and which was associated with fewer problems than other styles of drinking. However, a questionnaire study of college students (Wiggins and Wiggins, 1992) and a statewide survey (Smith et al., 1993) did not find a relationship between sociable motives for drinking and consumption levels. In a diary study, de Castro (1990) found positive mood associated with alcohol use was explained by the fact that alcohol was ingested in comfortable, pleasant, social conditions.
2.4.4. Experimental studies of sociability
We earlier discussed Pliner and Cappell's (1974) finding that mood-enhancing effects of alcohol are amplified in group settings. Here, participation in a group was the independent variable and general good feelings the dependent. An experiment showing that people both feel more sociable due to drinking and are perceived as being more sociable (objectively) because of alcohol consumption (the independent variable) was conducted by Smith et al. (1992). The researchers gave subjects either vodka and fruit juice or fruit juice alone. This study is one of the few to find that only those actually drinking alcohol were more sociable.
While Smith et al. demonstrated a significant independent pharmacological effect of alcohol, other research simultaneously indicates that expectancy and setting mediate alcohol's sociability function. In a placebo-controlled, double-blind study, for example, Doty and de Wit (1995, p. 26) reported "both the reinforcing and subjective effects of ethanol were influenced by the social context in which it was consumed." Utilizing this phenomenon, Fromme et al. (1994) trained at-risk college drinkers to reduce consumption by demonstrating that the students experienced enhanced mood and conviviality in a situation where they thought they were consuming alcohol but were not. This demonstrated to the students that their expectations of having a good time with others were sufficient by themselves to produce this effect without drinking. Clinicians utilize this so-called "challenge" effect as a treatment modality for problem drinkers (Darkes and Goldman, 1998).
A major area of experimental study (e.g., Bruch et al., 1992) has been the assessment of alcohol's effectiveness in reducing "social anxiety." Large differences by gender occur in such stress reduction (Wilson, 1988). Expectancy is also critical, so that male subjects feel less anxiety in social situations, but women feel more, when subjects believe they are drinking but are not in fact consuming alcohol (Abrams and Wilson, 1979; Wilson and Abrams, 1977). Yet de Boer et al. (1993, 1994) found almost the opposite expectancy effect in the Netherlands, where women (but not men) who believed they had consumed alcohol experienced reduced anxiety. Garrulousness, self-revelation, and guardedness likewise vary with drinking (Babor et al., 1983; Higgins and Stitzer, 1988; Hull et al., 1983; Stitzer et al., 1981) in complex gender, expectation, setting, and even cultural interactions (Caudill et al., 1987; Schippers et al., 1997). For the present review, self-disclosure as opposed to guardedness, and sociability in general, can be considered either as benefits or as risks (or both) depending on the setting.
2.5. Social integration and adjustment
In a Northern California population, Camacho et al. (1987) found that abstainers were less likely to be married or to have organizational memberships than drinkers at all levels, while those drinking 1-2 drinks daily were most likely to be married and group members. Other studies have found that more social interaction is associated with a greater likelihood of imbibing alcohol — for example, in the U.S. in a community sample of adults (Berkman and Syme, 1979) and among male blue-collar workers (including both moderate and heavy drinking subcultures, Janes and Ames, 1989). In a Los Angeles sample, Seeman et al. (1988) found that powerlessness was associated with drinking problems, and "the highest intake and problems are found where high powerlessness and low engagement combine" (p. 193). At the same time, this study found, drinking with companions was associated with heavier drinking.
Leifman et al. (1995) found a U-shaped relationship between social integration and alcohol consumption. The investigators examined 50,000 Swedish conscripts (age 18-19), only 6 percent of whom abstained. Abstainers more often reported having few or no friends, being unpopular, being anxious socially, and never having intimate conversations — results that also occurred for heavier drinkers in the sample. Watten (1996) found in Norway with a similarly aged group of college students that abstainers had significantly lower scores on sociability than those who drank moderately. In a study correlating personality attributes and drinking, Cook et al. (1998, p. 646) found that "abstainers are more submissive, less sociable, less self-confident, less empathic, more dependent on others and have a weaker social presence."
Examining the older end of the age spectrum, Hanson (1994) found that a range of social indices associated isolation both with greater quantity of consumption and with problem drinking indices. In a study of Western U.S. retirement communities, on the other hand, Alexander and Duff (1988) found greater social interaction was associated with heavier drinking; however, Alexander and Duff defined "heavy drinking" as only 2 or more drinks daily and did not identify drinking problems. A similar finding was obtained in a survey of the elderly in a small Eastern Ontario community (Graham, 1998). This study separated lifetime abstainers and former drinkers. Compared with both groups, current drinkers had larger social networks and engaged in more social activities.
2.5.1. Summary: Does social integration support healthier drinking?
Skog (1995) and Andréasson (1998) have argued that, since isolated individuals are more often both abstinent and unhealthy, social isolation confounds findings that abstainers have higher death rates than moderate drinkers (as does depression; see next section). There is some empirical support that a social isolation-integration scale has a U-shaped relationship to drinking, along with evidence that those with greater social contacts are more likely to drink, or drink regularly or heavily, depending on the peer group and other variables.
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