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 and 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.