If You’re a Garbage Person While Drunk, You’re a Garbage Person Sober

Anyone who’s used one-too-many vodka sodas or shots of Fireball as an excuse for last night’s bad behaviour might have some ‘splainin’ to do, according to a new study that suggests alcohol doesn’t have as drastic an impact on imbibers’ personalities as they might have previously thought.

In a report published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science, researchers at the Missouri Institute of Mental Health at the University of Missouri, St. Louis found that while drinkers often report drastic shifts in their personalities following the consumption of alcohol, their overall behaviours remain fairly consistent to outside observers.

The research team, led by psychological scientist Rachel Winograd, surveyed 156 participants on their typical alcohol consumption levels, as well as how they viewed the difference between their “typical sober” and “typical drunk” personalities. Those participants later returned to the lab in groups of three or four and were asked to drink and interact as a friend group. While some were given plain Sprite, others were given mixed vodka and Sprite beverages, which were specifically calibrated based on each participant’s weight and height to bring their blood alcohol content to around .09.

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