There’s no such thing as a ‘happy drunk’... just the real you, louder

THERE is no such thing as a “happy drunk”, scientists have concluded, after finding that alcohol does not radically change personality.

Although many people blame drinking for alterations in their usual behaviour, new research shows that there is little shift in character between sober and squiffy. The only change is that people become more extroverted in a louder version of their usual personality.

“We were surprised to find such a discrepancy between drinkers’ perceptions of their own alcohol-induced personalities and how observers perceived them,” said psychological scientist Dr Rachel Winograd of the University of Missouri, St Louis.

“Participants reported experiencing differences in all factors of personality, but extraversion was the only factor robustly perceived to be different across participants in alcohol and sober conditions.”

The idea that we transform into different people when we’re under the influence is a popular one and even informs clinical determinations about whether someone has a drinking problem.

Some 156 participants filled in surveys to define their characters while drunk and sober and then visited a laboratory with friends and drank cocktails while taking part in group activities designed to bring out certain personality traits. The drinkers reported a variety of changes in personality, but the observers only noticed changes in extraversion.

Dr Winograd said: “Of course, we also would love to see these findings replicated outside of the lab – in bars, at parties, and in homes where people actually do their drinking.

“Most importantly, we need to see how this work is most relevant in the clinical realm and can be effectively included in interventions to help reduce any negative impact of alcohol on peoples’ lives.”

The research was published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science.