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. 2015 Sep;3(5):686-701.
doi: 10.1177/2167702614548892. Epub 2014 Sep 26.

Alcohol and Emotional Contagion: An Examination of the Spreading of Smiles in Male and Female Drinking Groups

Catharine E Fairbairn  1 , Michael A Sayette  1 , Odd O Aalen  2 , Arnoldo Frigessi  3
Affiliations

Alcohol and Emotional Contagion: An Examination of the Spreading of Smiles in Male and Female Drinking Groups

Catharine E Fairbairn et al. Clin Psychol Sci. 2015 Sep.

Abstract

Researchers have hypothesized that men gain greater reward from alcohol than women. However, alcohol-administration studies testing participants drinking alone have offered weak support for this hypothesis. Research suggests that social processes may be implicated in gender differences in drinking patterns. We examined the impact of gender and alcohol on "emotional contagion"-a social mechanism central to bonding and cohesion. Social drinkers (360 male, 360 female) consumed alcohol, placebo, or control beverages in groups of three. Social interactions were video recorded, and both Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiling were continuously coded using the Facial Action Coding System. Results revealed that Duchenne smiling (but not non-Duchenne smiling) contagion correlated with self-reported reward and typical drinking patterns. Importantly, Duchenne smiles were significantly less "infectious" among sober male versus female groups, and alcohol eliminated these gender differences in smiling contagion. Findings identify new directions for research exploring social-reward processes in the etiology of alcohol problems.

Keywords: alcohol; emotional contagion; facial mimicry; gender; social context.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cumulative hazard of a smile developing into a mutual smile across group gender composition Smiles that ended without eliciting a responding smile are represented by + symbol. Lines become thinner across horizontal axis as observations become more sparse (the majority of smiles either developed into a mutual smile or ended un-reciprocated within 5 seconds of their initiation.)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cumulative hazard of a smile developing into a mutual smile according to drink condition and the gender of the smile initiator's group-mates Smiles that ended without eliciting a responding smile are represented by + symbol. The gender of the smile initiator him/herself did not significantly impact mutual smile hazard in any drink condition
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