Decision making in altered states: effects of alcohol on attitudes toward drinking and driving.
A laboratory experiment and 2 field studies tested the hypothesis that alcohol affects attitudes and intentions toward drinking and driving. Sober and intoxicated participants completed a questionnaire assessing their attitudes and intentions to drink and drive in a number of situations. Results indicated that when asked general or noncontingent questions, sober and intoxicated participants were equally negative about this behavior. However, when a contingency was embedded in the question (e.g., "would you drink and drive only a short distance?"), intoxicated participants were significantly less negative about drinking and driving. These results are consistent with alcohol myopia (C. M. Steele & R. A. Josephs, 1990)--the notion that alcohol intoxication decreases cognitive capacity so that people are more likely to attend to only the most salient cues.
MacDonald
T K
TK
Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Zanna
M P
MP
Fong
G T
GT
D000328:Adult; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects; D001290:Attitude; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology*; D003657:Decision Making / Q000187:drug effects*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation
D000431:Ethanol