L. Curtin et Rd. Fisher, PERCEPTION OF MALE DRINKERS AS A FUNCTION OF THEIR ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGEPREFERENCE, Journal of studies on alcohol, 54(3), 1993, pp. 315-319
The present study examined perception of a man's likelihood of driving
after drinking and his ability to do so as a function of his choice o
f beverage. Perceptions of his social characteristics were also examin
ed. The sample was composed of 200 volunteer undergraduate psychology
students. Equal numbers of male and female subjects read one of four v
ignettes which varied only in the male protagonist's choice of beverag
e: beer, wine, shots of distilled spirits, or cola. After reading the
story, subjects answered multiple-choice questions about the character
, tapping social judgments, situational judgments and drinking and dri
ving judgments. Subject drinking habits were also assessed. The most n
otable result was the consistently positive perception of the protagon
ist portrayed as an abstainer. The lack of a consistent alcoholic beve
rage distinction implies that the beer-spirits double standard is far
from a clear-cut discrimination. Possible explanations for results are
discussed. This study questions the robustness of the alcoholic bever
age type bias and reflects the need for future research.