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In the 1980s, the world was introduced to the concept college students had started to call “beer goggles,” a phenomenon based on the assumption consuming that particular adult beverage (or other types of alcohol) can make you find other people more attractive. However, that might not actually be the case.
Anyone who’s thrown back a few drinks knows booze can impact your body (and mind) in a variety of ways, and when you consider you tend to see the world in a different light when you’re under the influence, the idea that you might be a bit more intrigued by someone who may not have necessarily caught your eye earlier in the night doesn’t seem particularly farfetched.
However, a team of researchers who spent some time looking into the matter would appear to disagree with that assertion.
According to The Guardian, a recently published study conducted by the folks at the Stanford Prevention Research Center set out to determine if beer goggles are, indeed, A Thing, and their findings have undermined the longstanding belief that is actually the case.
The experiment involved pairs of male friends (an approach used to mimic the conditions of a night out) who were asked to rate the attractiveness of people in pictures they were shown while sober and after drinking enough alcohol to bring their BAC to .08% (the legal limit to drive in most places).
The study found that the ratings didn’t significantly change based on the level of inebriation but noted that when the men were asked which people they’d like to meet in real life, they were more willing (specifically 1.71 times more likely) to name the people they found the most attractive, which would appear to suggest “beer goggles” refers to lowered inhibitions and an increased tendency to (as the kids say) shoot your shot.
The more you know.