DIARY Moderate drinkers are shown to score with the other sex

A FEW alcoholic drinks are well known to turn even the ugliest of ducklings into a beautiful swan in a phenomenon known as beer goggles. But it seems being seen to drink alcohol can also help to make you seem more attractive to others – provided you only drink in moderation.

Researchers at the University of Houston found college students rated social drinkers as more attractive than non-drinkers.

Perhaps, unsurprisingly, heavy drinkers were seen as being the least attractive. The effect is thought to be due to a social association, where drinking is considered to be a “cool” activity in most western countries. TV series like Mad Men have also helped to portray drinking as a stylish activity, while smoking has become less socially acceptable. However, recovering alcoholics were also seen as being more attractive than those who did not drink at all.

The research was carried out on 594 undergraduate students from an unnamed university in southern US. The subjects were shown 25 pictures of people’s faces from the opposite sex, each with a random label depicting their drinking habits.

These were desbribed using four statements, such as: “This college student frequently drinks heavily” or “this college student drinks socially on occasion” or “this college student never drinks”, and “this college student is a recovering alcoholic and therefore abstains from using alcohol”. – Daily Mail Yunus does not campaign for all businesses to switch to this model, he knows full well that some people will always be motivated by personal financial profit. But he proposes that the assumption that all humans are selfish and will only work for personal gain is wrong. Humans are also selfless and many will start businesses to solve the problems of the world if the right model can be taught – their income will be their salaries and their profit will be the change that they see happening.

Poverty and unemployment is a creation of the system we have built. If we change the system, we can change its consequences and even those who still have their eyes on the financial bottom line can gain. Current economic policy and business practices often fall back on the “trickle-down effect” – the idea that as long as wealth is being created it will trickle down to all areas of the economy. We can see all around us – and especially in South Africa – that this doesn't work.

Perhaps it is time – as Yunus says – to turn the system on its head and build our policy and practices on the basis of pushing wealth up and measuring business success by different outcomes.