Drowning your sorrows? Social exclusion and anger effects on alcohol drinking

This study was designed to examine whether social exclusion and anger affect alcohol consumption and value. Sixty participants who were excluded, provoked, and could then pour and consume beverages (labeled alcohol/juice), reported their perception of the beverages' value. Social exclusion increased the influence of anger provocation on alcohol drinking. When participants received a restricted amount of the beverages as an evaluative target, social exclusion and anger provocation interacted on ratings of the alcoholic-labeled beverage's hedonic value-when not anger-provoked, socially excluded participants wanted to drink more alcohol and were willing to pay more than socially accepted participants. Conversely, when provoked, the socially included participants reported higher hedonic value. Exclusion and anger increased alcohol consumption without conscious feelings of pleasure or other subjective liking report, and decreased objective indicators for the beverages' hedonic value (implicit liking-craving or willingness to pay for alcohol and wanting to drink more). When combined, exclusion and anger promote irrational drinking behavior. Implications regarding the involvement of alcohol in the non-conscious emotional responses to exclusion are discussed.