Drinking alcohol appears to have no impact on self-perceptions of morality, aggressiveness, or intelligence

Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2024 Feb;32(1):104-111. doi: 10.1037/pha0000666. Epub 2023 Jun 26.

Abstract

People generally perceive themselves as moral but does this tendency change after alcohol consumption? In the current research, we tested whether alcoholic intoxication affects self-assessments of morality (i.e., the self-importance of moral identity and the moral self-concept), and we also tested self-assessment of aggressiveness and intelligence. We conducted a preregistered laboratory experiment with participants divided into three groups: alcohol intoxication (n = 106), placebo (n = 114), and control condition (n = 109). We did not detect statistically significant differences in self-assessments across conditions. These data are consistent with the conclusion that self-assessments of morality, aggressiveness, and intelligence may be too stable to be affected by the momentary changes in self-perception caused by alcoholic intoxication. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

MeSH terms

  • Alcohol Drinking
  • Alcoholic Intoxication*
  • Ethanol
  • Humans
  • Intelligence
  • Morals
  • Self Concept

Substances

  • Ethanol