Research from the University at Buffalo in New York showed that college students are apt to underestimate levels of intoxication especially for females. | Wikimedia Commons
A recent gender study found differences in the perception and social acceptability of drinking among college students, who have a tendency to minimize female intoxication levels.
The Research Institute on Addictions at the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York found that students misinterpret levels of intoxication because of gender differentiations and social norms.
The study had 145 college students read a scenario and estimate the intoxication levels of the main characters. The researchers changed the characters’ gender, number of drinks consumed within three hours and a description of their behavior.
The participants rated the characters on a scale of one to five using moderate drinking terms including “buzzed” and “tipsy.” They also chose from 11 heavy drinking terms including “obliterated” and “tanked.”
When asked to reflect on characters who had reached higher levels of intoxication, participants described females with less scrutiny than males.
Male characters whose behavior indicated obvious drunkenness were labeled as “hammered” or “plastered”. Female characters who displayed the same drunken behavior and consumed the same number of drinks, however, continued to be described as “tipsy” or “lightheaded.”
Ash Levitt, University at Buffalo researcher, suggests that women typically underestimate and downplay their level of intoxication to fit societal expectations.
Sociology professor Russell Curtis teaches alcoholism and addiction. He also studies social movements and behavior.
“Females have been ascribed the role of ‘carriers of morality’ or, in parental terms, models of ‘good.’ There is, in my view, a double standard for drinking,” Curtis said.
“Drunkenness is a male expectation. To get loaded and raise hell for males is ‘boys will be boys.’ Society’s role expectations of women is to maintain more sobriety.”
Business management sophomore Andrew Rodriguez agreed with the study’s findings.
“I do think that the amount of alcohol women drink is downplayed by both genders in order to display a more courteous or proper appearance,” Rodriguez said.
Hotel and restaurant management junior Austin Windom described why intoxication may be skewed to describe people of different genders.
“It is more socially acceptable for a man to drink casually,” said Windom. “As a society, we hold women to higher social standards.”
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism noted that about half of college students who drink also consume alcohol through binge drinking. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that binge drinking is twice as common among males.
“Drinking for guys is better accepted in society because it is considered ‘masculine’,” said nutrition sophomore Marianne Beristain. “On the contrary, a girl of similar intoxication could easily lose her cool and classy reputation.”
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