The morning after a session of heavy drinking can leave you not only with a sore head but paranoid about how you’ll act under the influence of one cocktail too many. However, research is increasingly pointing to the conclusion that, for many of us, alcohol does not significantly alter our personality. Despite this, some drunk people undergo a personal change when drinking alcohol.
So why do some drunk people show a personality change and some don’t? Let’s take a look at what the research says.
How does alcohol affect our personality?
It is a common notion that alcohol turns us into different people and has a profound effect on our personality. It can feel this way when under the influence, you may feel more free in your opinions, be more open-minded, and even more likely to take risks.
However, what happens when our drunk behavior is noticed and compared to our sober selves? This is what researchers from the University of Missouri did, and the results are impressive.
The study included 156 participants, half of whom were given alcohol in a laboratory setting and observed by trained researchers who measured the effect of alcohol on them using three personality scales.
Before this observation, participants were asked to complete self-reports of their normal sober behavior and how they think this changes when they are drunk. They were also asked to rate how much they thought their personality had changed after consuming alcohol during the experiment.
The results found that the participant’s perception of a change in their personality when drunk was more prevalent than the sober observers’ perception of any alcohol-induced changes in personality traits. Of the personality factors observed, the only real change in personality was a higher degree of extraversion after drinking alcohol.
However, the researchers point out that the clinical laboratory setting needs to be recognized as a dampening factor in research and that there is a need for further exploration in this area in a more natural setting.
4 Types of Drunk Personality Show How Different People Are More Vulnerable to Personality Change
Before this study, previous University of Missouri research had distinguished 4 different types of drunk personality and highlighted that some people are more prone to personality change under the influence of alcohol. This study looked at the perceptions and opinions of 187 college students about their drunken personality.
The drunk personality types they explored were:
- Ernest Hemingway
This is the most common drunk personality type (42% of respondents) and is named after famous writer Ernest Hemingway who was known for his ability to get everyone else drunk under the table.
Members of Ernest Hemingway’s family could drink without it having much effect on their behavior or personality. The only changes this group noticed were greater difficulties with organization and a slight effect on their ability to understand intellectual concepts and abstract ideas. This is the group least likely to experience a problematic relationship with alcohol.
- Mr. Hyde
The second most popular drunk in the study was ‘Mr. Hyde (23% of participants). As the name suggests, the drunken Mr. Hyde personality type is linked to the evil ego of Dr. Jekyll (from the famous book by Robert Louis Stevenson) and corresponds to a marked change in behavior when he is Drunk with individuals displaying obnoxious behavior.
This group was the most likely to experience negative consequences when drinking alcohol and was more likely to become addicted.
- Professor Nutty
The researchers named the third most common drunk character “The Nutty Professor” and it’s based on the character Eddie Murphy in the movie of the same name. This concerns people who undergo a complete transformation after drinking alcohol.
This is the one who is usually shy and retiring but turns into the life and soul of the party after a few glasses of Chardonnay. This represented 20% of the participants and was not associated with any problem with alcohol use.
- Mary Poppins
The rarest type of drunk personality among the participants (15%) was referred to by the researchers as “Mary Poppins”. This is about those who are not only nice and friendly when they are sober but keep that way after drinking alcohol.
Regarding the temperament of the world’s greatest nanny, Mary Poppins, this group was heavy drinkers who did not experience any negative effects from drinking alcohol.
Research into the effects of alcohol on our personalities highlights some interesting discrepancies between how we think we appear when drunk, and how our drunken behavior is perceived by others. Interestingly, despite widespread belief in the transformative effects of alcohol, research indicates that our personalities are not as affected by the substance as we think.
However, the fact remains that some drunk people are more affected than others by a few too many drinks and that each person has one friend who may turn out to be the worst or the best version of themselves when they are under the influence of alcohol.
