Science is late to the party. A new report from Switzerland backs what college coeds have known forever — that drinking beer can make people more sociable and less sexually inhibited.
Researchers from the University Hospital of Basel tested 60 healthy men and women who drank alcoholic or non-alcoholic beer. The team tested what effect brews have on empathy, sexual arousal and face recognition — and it turns out, the hop drinkers got happier. They showed a greater desire to be with others than their straight-edge counterparts after just one pint, and they also recognized happy faces more quickly.
Beer goggles also made people — and especially women — less shy about sex. Both groups were shown sexually explicit images, and the more socially-lubricated sippers rated them as more pleasant than the subjects who didn’t get their drink on. The team suggested booze hits gals harder because they generally have a greater blood-alcohol concentration than guys do after chugging the same amount.
But the researchers made one important distinction: Although the ladies who lager were not as offended by the sexual images as their sober sisters, the drinkers were not more sexually aroused, either. So no, a woman enjoying her beer still does not necessarily want to have sex with you.
This all sounds like a no brainer, but lead researcher Matthias Liechti notes that, “Although many people drink beer and know its effects through personal experience, there is surprisingly little scientific data.”
So now science has proven the existence of beer goggles, and not long after researchers realized that brews also give us the munchies. We’re still waiting to hear whether drinking beer before liquor actually makes you sicker.
