What does your alcohol say about you?

Red wine drinkers are considered more relaxed, while spirit drinkers are often seen as confident and sexy, according to new research. Exploring the potential emotional factors underpinning alcohol preference, the researchers drew on anonymised responses to the world’s largest online survey of legal and illicit drug and alcohol use among adults (Global Drug Survey or GDS).

The analysis examined how the different types of alcohol can affect mood and change perceptions of the drinker and those around them. Their answers showed that they attributed different emotions to different types of alcohol.

Spirits were the least likely to be associated with feeling relaxed, while more than half of red wine and beer drinkers consider the drink relaxing. Drinking spirits was also more likely to draw out negative feelings than all the other types of alcohol. Nearly a third of spirit drinkers associated this tipple with feelings of aggression compared with around 2.5 per cent of red wine drinkers.

Other feelings likely to be drawn out included aggression, along with with feelings of energy and confidence, and more than four in 10 associated them with feeling sexy. Responses differed by educational attainment, country of origin, and age, with the youngest age group (18-24) the most likely to associate any type of alcohol with feelings of confidence, energy and sexiness when drinking away from home.

The responses also differed by gender and category of alcohol dependency. Women were significantly more likely than men to associate each feeling–except for aggression–with all types of alcohol.

But men were significantly more likely to associate feelings of aggression with all types of alcohol, as were those categorised as heavy/dependent drinkers, who were six times more likely to do so than low risk drinkers, while heavy drinkers were more likely to select any drink that was associated for them with feelings of aggression and tearfulness when at home or when out.

This is an observational study so no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect. And the researchers emphasise that there are likely to be many factors involved in the feelings elicited by alcohol, including advertising, when and where alcohol is drunk, and the alcohol content of different drinks.

“For centuries, the history of rum, gin, vodka and other spirits has been laced with violence,” said co-author Professor Mark Bellis. “In the UK, a litre of off-licence spirits can easily be bought for £15 or less, making a double shot only 75p.

“Such prices can encourage consumption at levels harmful to the health of the drinker and through violence and injuries also represent a risk to the people around them.”