EFFECTS OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AND THEIR CONGENER CONTENT ON LEVEL AND STYLE OF RISK TAKING

Compared the risk-taking behavior of sober Ss on the choice-dilemma questionnaire to that of Ss drunk on bourbon, vodka, and synthetic alcohol. Ss were 36 male graduate students. Results indicated that (1) contrary to previous findings, drunk Ss will accept greater subjective risk than sober Ss, and (2) Ss drunk on bourbon, which is very high in congener content, will take greater risk than those drunk on the other 2 beverages, which are low in congener content. Alcohol produced greater elevation on some items in the questionnaire than on others. Earlier research has shown that older age produces a decrease in risk on the same items. This may indicate that the shift toward greater risk taking that occurs under the influence of alcohol is not produced by the processes that are responsible for the risky shift in group discussion. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.