July 18, 2008
Is It The Music Or The Alcohol?
Which is more intoxicating, the music or the alcohol? Or maybe the ambience or the company? Well, according to upcoming research in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, loud music can make you drink more in less time.
Researchers in France have studied the effects of music levels on drinking in a bar setting. What they found is that loud music leads to more drinking in less time. According the the authors "previous research has shown that fast music can cause fast drinking, and that music versus no music can cause a person to spend more time in a bar."
Researchers discretely visited two bars for three Saturday evenings in a medium-size city located in the west of France. The study subjects, 40 males 18 to 25 years of age, were unaware that they were being observed; only those who ordered a glass of draft beer (25 cl. or 8 oz.) were included. With permission from the bar owners, observers would randomly manipulate the sound levels (either 72 dB, considered normal, or 88 dB, considered high) of the music in the bar (Top 40 songs) before choosing a participant. After the observed participant left the bar, sound levels were again randomly selected and a new participant was chosen.
Results showed that high sound levels led to increased drinking, within a decreased amount of time. The authors offered two hypotheses for why this may have occurred. "One, in agreement with previous research on music, food and drink, high sound levels may have caused higher arousal, which led the subjects to drink faster and to order more drinks. Two, loud music may have had a negative effect on social interaction in the bar, so that patrons drank more because they talked less."
So, do friendly bartenders make you drink more? Does the presence of friends in the bar influence the amount consumed? Is the weather a factor in alcohol consumption? So many questions to be answered!