A study examines the link between alcohol consumption and individuals' physical proximity to one another. Both the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have advised against combining alcohol consumption and social interaction during the COVID-19 pandemic, given that alcohol consumption may lead to decreased adherence to social distancing protocols. However, the effects of alcohol consumption on individuals' physical distance from one another are unclear. Catharine Fairbairn and colleagues conducted an experiment with four conditions in which the authors randomly assigned 212 US individuals to drink either an alcoholic or a nonalcoholic beverage in the company of either a friend or a stranger. Beverages were administered in three equal parts over 36 minutes, during which time participants' behaviors were videotaped. Whereas physical distance decreased significantly over time among strangers who consumed an alcoholic beverage, strangers who consumed a nonalcoholic beverage did not exhibit significant changes in physical distance. Regardless of the beverage consumed, friends did not exhibit significant changes in physical distance. The findings suggest that alcohol consumption may promote virus transmission between previously unconnected individuals by decreasing natural caution toward strangers, according to the authors.
Article #21-01937: "Alcohol narrows physical distance between strangers," by Laura Gurrieri, Catharine E. Fairbairn, Michael A. Sayette and Nigel Bosch.
MEDIA CONTACT: Catharine E. Fairbairn, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, IL; tel: 617-272-5470; email: cfairbai@illinois.edu
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences