Alcohol in the movies: Characteristics of drinkers and nondrinkers in films from 1940 to 1989

Authors
McIntosh, WD Smith, SM Bazzini, DG Mills, PS
Citation
Wd. Mcintosh et al., Alcohol in the movies: Characteristics of drinkers and nondrinkers in films from 1940 to 1989, J APPL SO P, 29(6), 1999, pp. 1191-1199
Citations number
18
Categorie Soggetti
Psycology
Journal title
JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
ISSN journal
00219029 → ACNP
Volume
29
Issue
6
Year of publication
1999
Pages
1191 - 1199
Database
ISI
SICI code
0021-9029(199906)29:6<1191:AITMCO>2.0.ZU;2-C
Abstract
We examined depictions of alcohol use in 100 popular films spanning 5 decad es. Drinkers were depicted as more attractive, more romantically/sexually a ctive, more aggressive, and having a higher socioeconomic status than nondr inkers. No systematic changes were found across decades that might reflect the growing knowledge base regarding the adverse effects of alcohol use. We compared the depiction of alcohol use in movies to real-world demographics and found that alcohol use in movies is somewhat glamorized.