Beer goggles
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The term "Beer Goggles" is the
phenomenon A phenomenon ( : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried ...
that people find other people more attractive after having had a few drinks. The term is especially used for people who, when one is sober, will otherwise not be found as relatively attractive or attractive at all.


History

The term "Beer Goggles" was first coined in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
in the 1980s by male university students. In addition, the first printed version of the phrase was found in the
Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...
magazine in January 1987 titled "The Let's Get Practical Fashion Award: To Georgetown for its beer goggles." By the 1990s it had spread to the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and is found in the Evening Chronicle stating "... but by the time I had my beer goggles on. After the ale I'd supped, they were looking like super-models". Lastly, the term "beer goggles" is found in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as a plural noun defined as "the effects of alcohol thought of metaphorically as a pair of goggles that alter a person's perceptions especially by making others appear more attractive than they actually are.


Science behind alcohol and perceived attraction

Drinking alcohol can have several effects on both the body and the brain. These effects include but are not limited to: impaired judgement, lowered
social inhibition Social inhibition is a conscious or subconscious avoidance of a situation or social interaction. With a high level of social inhibition, situations are avoided because of the possibility of others disapproving of their feelings or expressions. Soci ...
s, poor decision-making, aggressive behaviors and risky sexual behavior. First, alcohol enters the bloodstream through the gastrointestinal tract and the amount absorbed varies based on several factors such as genetic make-up, weight, muscle to fat ratio, food present and any medical conditions. Once in the bloodstream, the body acts as a
central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all p ...
depressant A depressant, or central depressant, is a drug that lowers neurotransmission levels, which is to depress or reduce arousal or stimulation, in various areas of the brain. Depressants are also colloquially referred to as downers as they lower the ...
meaning it slows down how fast brain cells and nerves communicate with the rest of the body. This impacts both the limbic system and the
prefrontal cortex In mammalian brain anatomy, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) covers the front part of the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex. The PFC contains the Brodmann areas BA8, BA9, BA10, BA11, BA12, BA13, BA14, BA24, BA25, BA32, BA44, BA45, BA46 ...
. The limbic system produces emotions such as fear or anxiety. This reduction in the limbic system is why people feel less socially awkward when drinking. The pre-frontal cortex is responsible for cognitive processing such as reasoning and judgement. This reduction in the pre-fontal cortex function is why people's inhibitions and judgements are lowered. The combination of lowered inhibitions and impaired judgement can lead people to think when under the influence that one is attractive. Lastly, there are several studies demonstrating that drinking increases risky sexual behavior, likelihood of having casual partners and less consistent condom use. This is because alcohol also decreases function of both the
cerebral cortex The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in humans and other mammals. The cerebral cortex mostly consists of the six-layered neocortex, with just 10% consistin ...
and
frontal lobe The frontal lobe is the largest of the four major lobes of the brain in mammals, and is located at the front of each cerebral hemisphere (in front of the parietal lobe and the temporal lobe). It is parted from the parietal lobe by a groove be ...
s. One of the functions of the cerebral cortex is receiving information from one's senses and environment while the frontal lobe is responsible for voluntary movement. Suppression of the cerebral cortex leads to lowered inhibitions while suppression of the frontal lobes lead to less control of one's emotions or urges causing potential aggression.


Research

There are many studies about whether "beer goggles" is a real thing, in other words if drinking truly makes people perceive other people to be more attractive. One of the first studies on the topic of "beer goggles" was done in 2003 which took 80
heterosexual Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" ...
college students to a bar, served drinks and then showed them pictures of people of the opposite sex. It was found that compared to the sober group, those that were served alcohol found people on average more attractive. To explore whether the "beer goggles" phenomenon was only found in humans, researchers at Pennsylvania State University explored mating habits in
fruit flies Fruit fly may refer to: Organisms * Drosophilidae, a family of small flies, including: ** ''Drosophila'', the genus of small fruit flies and vinegar flies ** ''Drosophila melanogaster'' or common fruit fly ** '' Drosophila suzukii'' or Asian frui ...
exposed to alcohol. The study concluded that flies who were chronically exposed to alcohol were less choosy when
mating In biology, mating is the pairing of either opposite- sex or hermaphroditic organisms for the purposes of sexual reproduction. ''Fertilization'' is the fusion of two gametes. ''Copulation'' is the union of the sex organs of two sexually reprod ...
with female fruit flies and more forward than those who were not exposed to alcohol. In 2013, a study titled "Beauty in the eye of the beer holder" was done to measure how alcohol consumption affected self-perception of attractiveness, and it was found that those who drank alcohol and were told they drank alcohol gave themselves more positive self ratings than those who didn't. Another study in 2012 analyzed the effects of combining alcohol with cigarettes and found that this enhances the "beer goggles" effect, causing the highest ratings of attraction compared to those who had just consumed alcohol. Later on a study conducted in 2014, found that drinking alcohol can affect perception of attractiveness in both animate and inanimate objects. The study consisted of 103 volunteers (both men and women) to drink either alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages, and then had to rate both faces and landscapes. Those who drank the alcoholic beverages rated on average higher for both the faces and landscapes than those in the non-alcoholic beverage group. The "beer goggles" effect was further investigated in 2015 in the opposite direction: evaluating the attractiveness of those who drank versus those who didn't. It was found that people perceived those who drank a low dose of alcohol as the most attractive compared to those who drank nothing at all or drank a high dose. Conversely, a study in 2016 was one of the first to refute the "beer goggles" phenomenon. The participants were divided into four groups: one that drank alcohol, one that were told they drank alcohol, one that did not drink alcohol, and one that were told they did not drink alcohol. The results conveyed that those who were told they consumed alcohol but didn't rated attractiveness higher than those who did not drink alcohol. These findings illustrate that the "beer goggles" effect could be more psychological and that people thinking they drank acted as a
placebo A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. In general, placebos can af ...
.


Criticism

Recent studies outside laboratory settings find that the "beer goggles" effect, a connection between attractiveness perceptions and level of
drunk Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main ...
enness, was not found as consistently. Other studies don't necessarily believe people find people more attractive, however that people are just more likely to act on desire when consuming alcohol. Most of the studies conclude that it is important to recognize many confounding variables such as amount of alcohol consumed, environment, mindset before drinking, relationship status and sexual arousal that all may play a role in ratings of perceived attractiveness. In addition, trends are showing that more people from Generation Z are opting not to drink alcohol at all with around a 20% to 28% increase of sober individuals in the last decade in the United States. They are known as the most sober curious generation yet. Researchers are now studying how this sober curious movement is impacting the dating landscape and whether this "beer goggles" effect will soon be less prevalent.


References

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Bibliography

* Attwood, A. S., Penton-Voak, I. S., Goodwin, C., & Munafò, M. R. (2012). Effects of acute nicotine and alcohol on the rating of attractiveness in social smokers and alcohol drinkers. ''Drug and Alcohol Dependence'', ''125''(1-2), 43–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2012.03.014 * Bègue, L., Bushman, B. J., Zerhouni, O., Subra, B., & Ourabah, M. (2012). “Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder”: People who think they are drunk also think they are attractive. ''British Journal of Psychology'', ''104''(2), 225–234. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8295.2012.02114.x * Chen, X., Wang, X., Yang, D., & Chen, Y. (2014). The Moderating Effect of Stimulus Attractiveness on the Effect of Alcohol Consumption on Attractiveness Ratings. ''Alcohol and Alcoholism'', ''49''(5), 515–519. https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agu026 * Lee, H.-G., Kim, Y.-C., Dunning, J. S., & Han, K.-A. (2008). Recurring Ethanol Exposure Induces Disinhibited Courtship in Drosophila. ''PLoS ONE'', ''3''(1), e1391. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0001391 * Maynard, O. M., Skinner, A. L., Troy, D. M., Attwood, A. S., & Munafò, M. R. (2015). Association of Alcohol Consumption with Perception of Attractiveness in a Naturalistic Environment. ''Alcohol and Alcoholism'', ''51''(2), 142–147. https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agv096 * Van Den Abbeele, J., Penton-Voak, I. S., Attwood, A. S., Stephen, I. D., & Munafò, M. R. (2015). Increased Facial Attractiveness Following Moderate, but not High, Alcohol Consumption. ''Alcohol and Alcoholism'', ''50''(3), 296–301. https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agv010 Wikipedia Student Program Alcohol and health Health effects of alcohol Substance intoxication Drinking culture Sexual attraction Beer culture