EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL-INTOXICATION ON SELF-FOCUSED ATTENTION

Objective: Self-focused attention has been associated with many cognitive, affective and behavioral consequences. Although Self-Awareness Theory predicts that alcohol intoxication reduces self-focused attention, empirical support for this effect has been inconsistent. The purpose of this study was to provide a critical test of the conditions under which alcohol intoxication will reduce self-focused attention. Consumption of alcohol and exposure to a mirror were independently manipulated to evaluate the effects of alcohol intoxication on self-focused attention both in the presence and the absence of situational cues that maintain self-focus. Method: Subjects were 47 male volunteers; 24 consumed alcohol and 23 consumed a placebo beverage. Approximately one-half of each group sat in front of a mirror while completing a sentence completion task, a situational manipulation previously shown to enhance self-focus. Results: Manipulation checks indicated that all subjects believed that they had consumed alcohol, although subjects who actually drank alcohol did feel more intoxicated than those who did not. The pattern of means suggests that both mirror exposure and alcohol intoxication enhanced the frequency of self-focused responses. Conclusions: The effects of alcohol consumption were contrary to predictions from Self-Awareness Theory, but consistent with findings from previous research on the acute effects of alcohol intoxication on self-disclosure. That is, alcohol intoxication may have prompted subjects to focus on immediate and salient information which, in the absence of distractions, happened to be self-focused.